Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonytn36
The average person has _absolutely no idea_ of the contributions to society made by NASA. A lot of the stuff you use every day can in some way be traced back to NASA technology and discoveries.

You just dotted your T's and crossed you eye's
Like the many advances in inserted cutting tools.......?
Maybe you would like to go back to high-speed end-mills as high-tech.

How about solid modeling ..... Cad-Cam .........
you would prefer the days on turntables...... with hours of trig-work
before you even cut into the meat.
m1m

did you read the part where all wood pencils were a fire hazard in 100% oxygen environments and how the tips could break and short circuits or get in peoples eyes.

You also read the part where they were sold to Nasa for $2.95 each? and even the russians used them?

Long story short NASA and the NOAA are underfunded. They also spin off a lot of money to private industries to solve engineering challenges. For example they have a prize for a demonstrated remotely powered climber to be used on a possible space elevator. http://www.spaceward.org/elevator2010

I like NASA. I like the local library. I like several things government supplies. But the Federal Government spends over $20K for each family in this country every year. Obama's newest budget will increase even that. Your state/local taxes are on top of that. I am upper middle class and I don't pay $20K in taxes. We or our children will get the bill eventually.

I would like the Federal government cut back to courts (law enforcement) and defence. Road repair left to state and local government. Schools left to groups of like minded parents. Might have to buy annuities for those collecting SS. Government at all levels would be a fraction of the size it is now.

Companies will get what they get paid. Farmers will get what they sell crops for. People will have to live on what they earn.

Drastic? Darn straight. Don't think we will do it though. We will wait until it all collapses.

Eric

I sure like my memory foam matress that NASA invented.

First of all, it depends on what you/they are considering "welfare".

If welfare is the HUGE paycheck for sitting on your ass, that some people (republican's) would have you believe, the secret would be out! Guess what? It is not! It is peanuts! If that! Some people bitch about poor people getting a few fucking pennies of their tax money, but don't whine and cry half as loud about already rich people stealing their tax money! THAT is a glaringly bright indicator of being subhuman slime! Hopefully you aren't one of these people.

Jeff

How could I have forgotten?!?!
The ones who need it the most!

Jeff

fwiw,
I'm waiting patiently in line for the NASA yard sale. Understand they've bought more Monarch 10EEs that any other customer...

In truth sad. That said this is NOT the time for more projects. Let's pay the mortgage and then we'll go to Mars. Not vice versa...

Regards, Matt.

Yes, they are underfunded.
I think we all need to get used to it for a long, long time.
Did you read my first post?
I stated that we have gotten some good things from NASA, but that the return on the investment needs to be much larger.
We have problems here on Earth.
Do you still pay a power bill every month? Still have to stop at gas stations?

Solve those problems and I'll be happy to send your ass all the way to Pluto.
Until then.........


What hasn't been underfunded in the last 30 years is the Nat'l Debt.
Unfortunately the balloon payment is coming shortly.......

I remember hearing that the amount of money women in the U.S. spent on cosmetics and hair styling exceeded the NASA budget even in it's heyday. Now, I'm all in favour of women looking their best and God bless 'em, but it puts the expense of NASA in perspective.

It will be interesting/depressing to see where the money saved will be spent/wasted.

True, but nobody put's a gun to your head (taxman) takes your money,
and then blows it on makeup....well not as bad as NASA.

Spending money on makeup is a voluntary option.

I'll try to keep this PG-13, but there are several adult novelties made of a material called "cyberskin" and "futurotic" that I am told was developed by NASA. The emotional well being of our citizens is, I think, totally worth it. What industry singlehandedly developed streaming video? The same one americans spend more money on than the big three TV networks combined..........

I thought that was a part urban myth..

Didnt both the US and USSR quickly dump pencils as pencil graphite conducts and when the tip breaks off it tends to go where it shouldn't...not to mention in eyes etc..

And a normal ball point pen will work fine in space...not need for Fischer (except financial) to develop a pressurised pen.
America has astronauts
Russia has cosmonauts
Britain has balloonists. (J.Carr)

We had a cutting edge space program in the mid to late fifties..3 rocket types ..near 100 launches and no failures...but US and USSR solid fuel rockets mad our lox based stuff antique overnight for defence..
But the Black night rocket was the first attempt by anyone to evaluate stealth technology..testing re- entry and radar tracking...When the programs were cancelled this data was passed to US along with the UK A&H bomb data...it formed the basis for the special relationship....started by Eisenhower and continued to this day..

Rob

Rebel,

Please go back reread history, watch a few documentaries on the topic, and then come back to this thread.

I was born 18 years after Apollo 11 and I know that it landed safely on the moon. I don't think Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins would like the thought that they died on the ground 40 years ago.

The Space program may or many have given us anything "unique" but it has been a source of funding for many developments and advancements in current technology. The Guidance module on the Apollo space craft is credited for being the first embedded system, which by the way led to the development of "Fly by wire" in the F-8 which ended up being the basis for fly by wire in the vast majority of modern aircraft.

Dimitri

Probably as much as Grissom, White, and Chaffee would appreciate their names and mission being forgotten...

Yup.

Dimitri

I would like to chime in if I could.......

I'm a pretty conservative guy, That means when I have a problem the last place I look for an answer is D.C.

That said, I do think there are things the feds do that is worth the investment.Besides the spelled out defense and census, a few others are:

The interstate highway system. Trillions of dollars worth of comerce comes from this.

Food inspection.Need I say more?

Border patrol. (see above)

Medicaid and Welfare. I will gladly pay for those trully in need. (need being the key word in that sentence)

I'm shure I'll think of more later.

But one of the things on that list should be the space program. If I need to decide between, say, private secured flights for every congressman and senator, and Nasa. I'd pick NASA EVERY TIME
If only for the showmanship of the organization. They make you feel good when you see their accomplishments, I'll pay for that.

If they put a box on your tax return for "give a dollar of your return for NASA", we wouldn't be having this discussion.

The problem with cancelling all these expensive programs like returning to the moon etc...is as the UK has shown since the ambitious fifties...
One you stop doing it..a generation later you cant do it..

Rob

I am flatly opposed to most of the garbage the government wastes our money on, NASA included. Given that, I would rather they pissed my money away going to the stars than dumping it into welfare (of all sorts) or spending it on new ways to order citizens around and rule their lives. Of course, I would vote for none of the above if possible.

toolingjim (Just a guy who likes to build stuff)

Thanks for the correction.....almost.
Glad you know the facts on Apollo 11. I am now informed that the mission I was referring to was Apollo 1. The length of time between the two was only 2 years and as I was 3 (Apollo 1) and 5 (Apollo 11) years of age, forgive me for not recalling correctly. I do remember well sitting on the roof of our Florida home watching excitedly each time a moon mission was launched. I also witnessed the Challenger explosion in 1989 (I think) and immediately knew it was toast. I also recall that morning that I'd never known them to launch in weather that cold. It was below freezing that morning. That is, if I may be permitted to use the memory of a 20 year old event in a 45 year lifespan.
You see, I was typing from memory, not researching sound bites on wikipedia. I also trust Webster's more than spellcheck.
That comes from the luxury of having lived the history, rather than taking pot shots from the cheap seats.
Now a suggestion from me.
Next time you see someone put the words I think in parenthesis, try to understand that it is not intended as a statement of absolute fact and in no way implies that I have forgotten the names of the astronauts that I saw take off and land (in the ocean at that time).
I simply made a mistake and was acknowledging the possibility at the time I posted it.
OK?

And BTW, I did remember Grissom and Chaffee, but not White, and almost used their names in that original post to clarify.
If I'd known I was going to get a rectal exam as a result..........I would have.