What is your opinion on Bush's new space program ?

Don't you guys south of the border need money for health and education more then for martians and Jupiterians??

Were did u get that idea?

Bush's plan is only a mere shadow of what a real space plan should/could be. He wimped out on the space station, he wimped out on a true shuttle follow-on. Will he wimp out on the Hubble follow-on and his latest plan? Stay tuned for further developments....

(Of course, if its a few hundred million more for weapons systems to stop the Soviet Union or a few hundred million for a newer artillary gun to fight the Battle of the Bulge again, well, we can just pony up the money .......... )

Sorry, just a little rant.

Eccles, how many Citizens are not covered by any medical insurance? Schools are perfect as well? Come on, who needs to spend 8 billion $ to go to mars when the unmanned probes are already there? It's bragging rights again..."mine is bigger then yours" kinda stuff from this President's government.

Originally posted by f1michel
Eccles, how many Citizens are not covered by any medical insurance? Schools are perfect as well? Come on, who needs to spend 8 billion $ to go to mars when the unmanned probes are already there? It's bragging rights again..."mine is bigger then yours" kinda stuff from this President's government. Perhaps I should have added a smiley - I was agreeing with you, and attempting to illustrate the sorry state of education in this country by emulating some of the basic spelling and grammar errors that kids are making these days.

oups... accept my apologies for my reaction then. :-)

No problem - I'm too subtle for my own good sometimes. :D

The pursuit of high technology, including space exploration, is not only what has given us our cars, but also these computers that we are using to communicate with, and all of the infrastructure that goes with them. To say nothing of flat panel displays, MRIs, shock absorbing materials, doppler radar, laser surgery, the list goes on and on.

Saying that we would better spend the money on education or health care rather than space exploration is (IMHO) short sighted and somewhat naive. It is not a binary function. If we don't spend a dollar on scientific research it will not go to feed the hungry. The truth is there is already enough food to feed everyone. Technology has given us the means. It is politics, greed, and hate that prevent feeding the hungry.

And as to the costs. According to the Office of Management and Budget, for fiscal 2003 the US spent $6.131 billion on Human spaceflight. It sounds like a lot, but against the (on-budget) Defense Department budget of $364.847 billion, it's practically a rounding error. The US Air Force spent $18.451 billion on research (for weapons), three billion dollars more than NASA's entire budget. :confused:

The B-2 Spirit "stealth" bombers cost $1.157 billion each in 1998 dollars. The USAF has 21 of these planes. And these figures don't count the cost of the current war in Iraq.

It is all a matter of priorities. That is why it is so important that our leaders understand the trades they are making with our, and our children's future. :D

How much of all those $$ are coming from money the Gvmt doesn't even have and is just inflating the (already huge) deficit of your country?

f1michel - Way tooooooo Much !!!!!!!!!!!!

And we were very nearly out of debt!! Unbelievable!

Originally posted by Positron

And as to the costs. According to the Office of Management and Budget, for fiscal 2003 the US spent $6.131 billion on Human spaceflight. It sounds like a lot, but against the (on-budget) Defense Department budget of $364.847 billion, it's practically a rounding error. The US Air Force spent $18.451 billion on research (for weapons), three billion dollars more than NASA's entire budget. :confused:

The B-2 Spirit "stealth" bombers cost $1.157 billion each in 1998 dollars. The USAF has 21 of these planes. And these figures don't count the cost of the current war in Iraq.

It is all a matter of priorities. That is why it is so important that our leaders understand the trades they are making with our, and our children's future. :D

You are so right. Imagine you would spent that money on education, health care, welfare, roads etc. The US would have roads made out of gold. Every citizen would live in a villa with a swimming pool and every child would have their personal teacher! Every US citizen would live in "paradise". Instead less then 10% do so now. It's a shame how we waste our ressources and it is unbelievable how these guys get away with it and even get glorified by us!
George Bush, if you are reading this (and you probably are), shame on you!

I like the idea, but I wonder if it would be better if this effort was internationalized. Make it trully a leap for all mankind? It will be a heck of a lot cheaper for all parties involved. Even privatizing the effort may be a more financially sound way to go.

Otherwise as it stands, two words that will kill the Mars trip....Social Sercurity.

I can't really vote. I think it's a cool idea if it really happened, but I have no faith in Bush. Not in his ability to do this exploration, but in his intent. He has zero credibility with me in meaning what he says. I think this whole thing is an attempt to kill NASA, end the Hubble, Shuttle and Space Station, use the savings to offset his huge tax cuts, and make no honest effort to open up space to exploration. I would say "Great idea" if I thought he really meant it, but none of the poll responses seem to match what I really think.

We've proven that more money does not improve education (D.C. has the highest per student expenditures and among the poorest results). The benefits from space exploration are tremendous (as mentioned above). Where do you think the money goes? It pays wages, buys products and pumps money into the economy. That helps us all.

The debt is not a concern. By lowering marginal tax rates, the revenue will increase and more taxes will be taken in. I agree, the Bush administration is all ready spending too much. Spending instead on something beneficial like space benefits everyone.

There will always be the poor among us, but pumping money into wages and goods production will help the economy, innovation and evolve our species to the next level. Set your hate of Bush aside and see the bigger picture.