NASA to offer $100 billion moon program (WTF???)

[Holly_Hobby]

HOW CAN WE AFFORD THIS???

NASA to offer $100 billion moon program
Published: September 18, 2005, 2:13 PM PDT
By Reuters

With the shuttle fleet grounded and the International Space Station staffed by a skeleton crew, NASA is set to unveil plans on Monday to take people and cargo to the moon.

Even before the official announcement, there is criticism from Capitol Hill over the reported $100 billion cost of the lunar program, given U.S. government commitments to the Iraq war and the recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

"This plan is coming out at a time when the nation is facing significant budgetary challenges," Rep. Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat on the House Science Committee, said in a statement. "Getting agreement to move forward on it is going to be heavy lifting in the current environment, and it's clear that strong presidential leadership will be needed."

To get astronauts back to the moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, one team of designers envisioned an Apollo-style capsule sitting atop rockets fashioned from shuttle components, including the shuttle's massive external tank and solid rocket boosters. There would be a separate space vehicle to carry only cargo.

...

http://news.com.com/NASA+to+offer+100+billion+moon+plans/2100-11397_3-5871563.html

[Rude Horner]

1. We can't.

I think this stuff is as neat as the next person, but we need to start getting our priorities in order. $100 billion for a space program while people are starving in this country just ain't right.

[acmejack]

5. With the tremendous success of the Mars rovers one has to question

this obsession with sending manned vehicles. The logistics of providing life support to a human crew greatly complicates any design.

It makes a lot more sense to go unmanned at this time. It makes even more sense to get our house in financial order forthwith, instead of seeking ways to further increase our indebtedness.

[lapfog_1]

2. Merely a continuation of the * mis administration attempt

to scuttle any and all MTPE things, such as studies of ocean temperatures, worldwide vegetation (deforestation), and atmospheric studies (Ozone Hole anyone?). You know, all those pesky facts that keep telling people who are not yet mesmerized by pregnant white women disappearing from tropical paradises that we are, in fact, in deep shit. NASA provides a lot of those facts. So de-fund the messenger if the message doesn't agree with your ideology.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Whitey on the moon

A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face and arms began to swell.
(and Whitey's on the moon)
I can't pay no doctor bill.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still.
(while Whitey's on the moon)
The man jus' upped my rent las' night.
('cause Whitey's on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
I wonder why he's uppi' me?
('cause Whitey's on the moon?)
I wuz already payin' 'im fifty a week.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Taxes takin' my whole damn check,
Junkies makin' me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin' up,
An' as if all that shit wuzn't enough:
A rat done bit my sister Nell.
(with Whitey on the moon)
Her face an' arm began to swell.
(but Whitey's on the moon)
Was all that money I made las' year
(for Whitey on the moon?)
How come there ain't no money here?
(Hmm! Whitey's on the moon)
Y'know I jus' 'bout had my fill
(of Whitey on the moon)
I think I'll sen' these doctor bills,
Airmail special
(to Whitey on the moon)

Gil Scott Heron

[FloridaPat]

4. A $100 billion here, a $100 billion there and pretty soon your bankrupt.

I'm sure China and Japan won't mind financing that. More places to send Chinese goods.

[shireen]

6. oh, it's probably just a smoke screen ...

they need to militarize space without putting too much money into the Pentagon that will attract too much attention. Moon mission sounds like good way to develop technologies that will be ultimately used for military purposes.

PNAC sucks.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

7. Why do we need this ???

If your house needed a roof and a furnace, would you borrow money to go on a trip to Europe??

We need to get our priorities straight in this country. Decent housing, health care for all, education for all, retirement benefits when we are too old to work. When we have all those, then we can think about these extras.

[CascadeTide]

8. take it ouf of the defense budget and i'm cool with it

Nasa does a lot of good, much more than illegally strongarming and invading other countries. Train those soldiers to be engineers instead of assassins and this world will be a much better place.

[Holly_Hobby]

9. Do we really need a space station? n/t

[Holly_Hobby]

10. Do we really need to send people and cargo to the moon? n/t

[CascadeTide]

12. i don't know but there is certainly more upside

by spending money on innovation rather than destruction

[Zynx]

11. Space program is and has always been a waste.

The one exception is commercial satellites as those have made our lives better.

[MisterP]

13. they (non-appointed NASA members) are waiting for a President who

can count and isn't an evil chimp, though--it'll be distributed over more than a decade

[Fox Mulder]

14. It's better to spend billions to go to space than billions for...

an illegal war.

But that's just my opinion.