Rick Perry Accuses Obama Of Leaving Astronauts To 'Hitchhike Into Space'

[Bithabus]

I think it is disgraceful that US Astronauts will have to ride in Russian capsules.

 

[SWJewellTN]

Wolfwood: Why do you think that we need a manned mission to Mars - particularly now in this economy? For what purpose? Just to say that we did it or just to keep some people employed that make their living off of the government teat? I can imagine in no way how a flight to Mars would benefit society today. Please don't use the distant future benefit as a reason because we'll kill ourselves long before the sun expands enough to engulf our planet.

 

[TrailDust]

I think it is disgraceful that US Astronauts will have to ride in Russian capsules.

We can thank NASA managers and members of Congress for that. We can also thank them for such brilliant decisions as destroying all of the blueprints and tooling for both the Saturn 1B and Saturn 5 rockets so that they could not "compete" down the road against the then developing Space Shuttle. Another gem is after the Challenger accident NASA declared that they would "never go back to business as usual," and that new safety standards would be religiously adhered to (no more flight waivers), and they were adamant that showboating of non-astronauts (ie., Senator Jake Garn, teacher Christa McAuliffe) would never be repeated. By the time Columbia was destroyed NASA was back to business as usual with flight waivers galore, engineers being ignored in preference to schedule/cost, and even the backup teacher to Christa McAuliffe was set to fly on a following mission.

I love technology and I have followed the space program since I could first walk, including watching the Apollo 11 moon landing, and in my opinion NASA needs to be disbanded. Retain an aeronautics research agency, but let spaceflight be handled by the private sector who can do it better, safer, and cheaper.

 

[TrailDust]

I'll add that I'll give NASA the Challenger accident, but Columbia was unforgivable, as well as a permanent national humiliation and tragedy. You guys know how anti-litigious I am, but in the case of Columbia the top managers at NASA should have been prosecuted IMO. Rant finished now.

 

[shortround]

Screw NASA.

Had the space program been in the hands of private investors, we would have had microwave ovens, freeze dried food, mylar fabric, and many other innovations in 1959 instead of 1969.

As for satellites, that was truly in the realm of national defense, manned space flight never was.

Be well.

 

[Clockwork]

Someone needs to keep the space missions going for our race... One day this planet will be uninhabitable.

 

[Clockwork]

Honestly, the cuts have to be made somewhere and NASA would be pretty high on my list also. I really could care less about sending people to Mars when the nation is having significant economic issues. The Governor cares because it will greatly affect many Texans whom work and support NASA in Houston. It's a legitimate loss, but quite honestly the Government has been cutting back NASA funding for a decade now, and with the shuttle program needing a complete rebuild and all new ships it's the appropriate time to do it.

NASA represents the American legacy and that can never be taken from us ... we were the pinnacle, the first to put man on the moon. I'm sure the Russians cried a bit when their program went tits up with the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, but that's how things go.

Can we cut Congress' pay before we cut NASA? At least NASA was doing something useful, unlike Congress.

 

[TrailDust]

Can we cut Congress' pay before we cut NASA? At least NASA was doing something useful, unlike Congress.

+1

One of the arguments that pisses me off is when people say that sending men into space is "wasted money." Estimates vary, but for approximately $800 billion (in today's dollars) spent by NASA/government to develop and launch the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo missions, the value to the U.S. economy due to technologies invented and/or perfected during those years and subsequently released to the public for use has been approximately $17 trillion. That's a very, very good return on our investment. Same thing is true of military R&D.

 

[shortround]

And a lot of that R&D found its way to the Soviet Union, Israel, and China.

Now how the hell did that happen?

Be well.

 

[Wolfwood]

Wolfwood: Why do you think that we need a manned mission to Mars - particularly now in this economy? For what purpose? Just to say that we did it or just to keep some people employed that make their living off of the government teat? I can imagine in no way how a flight to Mars would benefit society today. Please don't use the distant future benefit as a reason because we'll kill ourselves long before the sun expands enough to engulf our planet.

unlocking the secrets of tetrahedral geometric energy is reason enough.

the advancement of exogeography, perhaps even new sources of energy and materials. extreme benefits.

not to mention getting there presents all kinds of problems. solving those will bring with it the side affect of new propulsion systems which can revolutionize trading here on earth. imagine if you could move a shipload of materials from USA to Australia in a matter of hours instead of months or weeks? and at a fraction of the cost... this is just one example of ourse.

 

[Wolfwood]

We can thank NASA managers and members of Congress for that. We can also thank them for such brilliant decisions as destroying all of the blueprints and tooling for both the Saturn 1B and Saturn 5 rockets so that they could not "compete" down the road against the then developing Space Shuttle. Another gem is after the Challenger accident NASA declared that they would "never go back to business as usual," and that new safety standards would be religiously adhered to (no more flight waivers), and they were adamant that showboating of non-astronauts (ie., Senator Jake Garn, teacher Christa McAuliffe) would never be repeated. By the time Columbia was destroyed NASA was back to business as usual with flight waivers galore, engineers being ignored in preference to schedule/cost, and even the backup teacher to Christa McAuliffe was set to fly on a following mission.

I love technology and I have followed the space program since I could first walk, including watching the Apollo 11 moon landing, and in my opinion NASA needs to be disbanded. Retain an aeronautics research agency, but let spaceflight be handled by the private sector who can do it better, safer, and cheaper.

i am not opposed to this at all.
as long as it is happening, i dont care who does it. if nasa would adhere to their orginal policy of full disclosure of their data, that would be a plus too.

 

[Texas1911]

Can we cut Congress' pay before we cut NASA? At least NASA was doing something useful, unlike Congress.

Trust me, Washington's perks and pay would be #1 on my list. NASA would be about #25.

 

[TrailDust]

And a lot of that R&D found its way to the Soviet Union, Israel, and China.

Now how the hell did that happen?

Living in a free and open society is a bitch and has its drawbacks. I'd rather have technology leak out or be stolen than to live like a drone in a police state and have most of my country's technological secrets kept closely held.

Trust me, Washington's perks and pay would be #1 on my list. NASA would be about #25.

What he said! Eliminating excessive pay and perks--not the least of which is Congressional members receiving full, life-long pensions after serving only one term in office--is a great place to start.

 

[Clockwork]

And a lot of that R&D found its way to the Soviet Union, Israel, and China.

Now how the hell did that happen?

Be well.

Espionage.

 

[shortround]

Espionage.

Not in the traditional "Tom Clancy" sense.

More like political contributions for the Clinton and ALGORE campaigns by the CHICOMS.

Be well.

 

[Redscout02]

I am just a pup here .but the lost of NASA is a bad thing. as I see it is another step toward the USA coming in second to China,and the EURO crowd. Not good for us, I was in that part of the world in 60's with Dad in the military and 70's and 80's in military myself. It is just not the way we in the US are use to living. Navyguy you are right on target.

I do think congress needs to go to term limits and to drop there retirement program completly.

 

[Clockwork]

Not in the traditional "Tom Clancy" sense.

More like political contributions for the Clinton and ALGORE campaigns by the CHICOMS.

Be well.

And you base this on what?

 

[M. Sage]

And you base this on what?

Clinton did hand over a bunch of secrets...

He was actually a lot like Chamberlain was in Britain.

 

[DaRedneck]

Everyone is saying turn it over to the private companies. If that's such a great idea then wtf have they been for the past 30 years? Seems to me their little 5 minutes of weightless flights are a far cry from what NASA has done. Besides, why can't they work in tandem to the benefit of both?

 

[TrailDust]

Not in the traditional "Tom Clancy" sense.

More like political contributions for the Clinton and ALGORE campaigns by the CHICOMS.

Be well.

And you base this on what?

The frickin' truth, and examples are legion. One aerospace example was when the Clinton administration allowed the Chinese to manufacture the MD-80 series of commercial aircraft, which required a State Department waiver to allow the Chinese to buy and install the tooling necessary to build the aircraft. The Chinese heartily promised Clinton that the tooling would not be used for military purposes, and Clinton prospered from the deal by receiving huge donations for his reelection campaign (among other "gifts"). Within the last couple of years the Chinese admitted that they did in fact use the tooling from the MD-80 program to build major components for their latest fighter designs. Clinton sold out America, in more ways than one.