Interesting that folks always compare the cost of the space program with the cost of "fixing things up at home".  As though the cost of space exploration is money thrown away.  As though the space program has no positive effect on the economy.  As though there are no technological, social, and humanitarian spinoffs of the program.  On the other hand, I suppose it's NASA's fault.  They've been miserable at PR.  Though I guess it's hard to justify the cost of a good PR Team, when you're burning shingles to stay alive.  NASA's 2011 budget is about one tenth of one percent of the Gross Domestic Product, and about one half of one percent of federal budget outlays.  The rewards for this investment (economic spinoffs aside) have been a wealth of knowledge.  About our planet and its environment.  About our Solar System.  About our Universe.  Show me a time in human history when knowledge and technology breakthroughs were a bad thing, or did not lead to a better life for everyone on the planet...

I watched the final 3 hours  (yeah, I'm a geek).  NASA had a live data stream to Google Earth so you could track the shuttle from orbit to runway as well as watching on NASA TV.

With regards to NASA's PR...

Why do *average* folks not know about all the stuff they encounter every day that was developed for the space program? There is a load of stuff we take for granted today that would have never been developed by a "for profit" capitalist economy.


Why didn't NASA succeed at persuading he public that it had a natural successor to the shuttle program?

The shuttle proved to us that we could maintain a space station as if it was serviced by an airline.

What would the next natural step be? Obviously the research done on the shuttle was boundary stretching stuff... but it was hard to perceive or illustrate that we are pushing an envelope while the researchers are maintaining an orbit.



I just don't understand how NASA couldn't help but fascinate people... and so I don't know where it lost the capability to inspire the voting public.



I really like NASA and the decline of the space program has obviously impacted the old Florida towns around Cape Kennedy in a negative way. For Example; Palm Harbor almost became a ghost town... and this decline began years before the housing slump.



I hope we can find a way to continue research that results in public availability of technologies that might never be shared under the stifling pressure of a free capitalist society.


best regards,
mike

Bub


<--- What does that even mean?!

I see it as a novelty toilet roll dispenser.
 
 

Really, do a google on SpaceX.  They really have their act together.  They recently launched a vehicle that could have carried a crew.  Their capability to deliver crews to the ISS is right around the corner.  I suspect a lot of the highly paid NASA talent will end up in private companies.  The professor and grad students have their place, but not in mainstream production and implementation, in my humble opinion.  And NASA's not particularly good at forcing academic based contracts to produce results on schedule.  Kind of like forcing an artist to create music on schedule, I suppose...

Are we comparing $113 million for a reusable NASA aircraft to $54 million for a privately owned dongle with a parachute?

I'm not clear what the dragon 9 is...or how it gets home.




How does either cost compare to a single pork barrel F35?



best regards,
mike

I'm having one of those Deja Bapu moments.

bapu

SteveStrummerUK

Bub


<--- What does that even mean?!

I see it as a novelty toilet roll dispenser.

 
 
I deserved that
 
 

SteveStrummerUK

bapu

SteveStrummerUK

Bub


<--- What does that even mean?!

I see it as a novelty toilet roll dispenser.

 
 
I deserved that
 
 

No you didn't. But I could not resist.

Wow... that answers that question.


Thanks!


best,
mike

  

Mike, I just believe that humanity has benefited from knowledge and technology, in the long run.  The antithesis, that we should stop seeking out new knowledge about our universe, because it costs too much, or doesn't matter, isn't supportable.  I didn't say that technology has never been used to hurt humanity.... 

hey MNorman:
 
Sorry if it came across that way.
 
Listen, I know you were a pilot in the Navy; I respect that.
and I know what side of the fence you are standing on;
 
but on the other side of the fence, technology has in many cases
not been very kind; that's all I meant to say. no offense/insult was intended

Tom,

No problem.  My intent wasn't to say that technology has never done harm.  Only that the pursuit of knowledge, and attendant technology, has served humankind in the long run, and is worthy of continuing.  Even if we don't always know what we're going to discover, i.e., Hubble. 

I'm proud of my military time, by the way, particularly that I never had to hurt anyone because of my passion for flying, particularly that on more than one occasion a fight was averted because the opponent didn't want to face the strength we represented (we were in International waters).  Maintaining that strength, and its deterrence, is a good thing too, in my humble opinion.  But I digress...

The name sounds familiar Mike.  But, I have found since I started gigging again at 50+, that pretty much all of my previously unused (or seldom accessed) neurons, are now occupied with song lyrics.  I can remember every verse to "Tangled Up in Blue", but not recognize an old friend.  Sigh....