Ares/Orion on the blocks?

[ThunderAeroI]

The actual article dosn't come across as very scary. Just doing research is all they say. With the economy the way it is, i would be surprised if it got cancelled - They want to Spend money to increase development and jobs. Eliminating programs isn't helpful.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

The problem is [snip] in May 2010, the US has no manned spaceflight capacity.

Why is that a problem? It's not like you people knew what to do with a manned space program during the decades when you could actually afford one.

TGT

 

[Neopeius]

NASA's budget is a piss in the ocean, cutting it is short-sighted and completely unnecessary.

Unless NASA isn't spending the money on anything useful.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

We've had the technology to go to Mars safely from thirty years.

The technology? Yes. The will to go? No.

A single manned mission to Mars would gather more information than centuries of unmanned probes.

I'm no so sure about that. Probes now are doing the same thing (or more) that astronauts on the surface would do, using the same tools.

 

[Neopeius]

A single manned mission to Mars would gather more information than centuries of unmanned probes.

Then why are we still sending unmanned probes to the moon?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I have faith that Obama will first see to the US economy and THEN give NASA the funding he promised. That extra 2 billion right now is better spent elsewhere. Once the US economy is back on track and jobs have been created then NASA will likely get their money. Obama can't do everything in one swift go, it takes time.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

have faith that Obama will first see to the US economy and THEN give NASA the funding he promised. That extra 2 billion right now is better spent elsewhere.

The US government bailout is now at $8.5 trillion and counting. I suspect a far more likely outcome of this economic disaster is NASA either being completely abolished or folded into the DoD.

TGT

 

[Forbin]

And the sad thing is, they're still funding the proposal that will have me sleeping over at work for january and february.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Other than the Skywatch program and launching communcations, etc sattelites, we should completely defund NASA.

In this time and economy, we have no money for luxuries like space exploration...

 

[starburst]

What do you propose our next step be?

Space probes and continued research on the ISS.

The problem is, the United States won't have a way to continue with research on the ISS. Once the shuttles are retired (and they're already past the operational lifetimes on major components) in May 2010, the US has no manned spaceflight capacity.

Ah well after 2010 getting people and supplies to and from the ISS will be soley up to the Russians.

Although I knew this was going to happen last year (had to do a presentation last year in work, could pick any subject so choose Constellation) I can see the current economic environment as a better reason to scale back funding in comparison to some of the other reasons.

Hopefully over the next 12 months things will stabilise so they can increase the NASA budget to what it should be, that or stop being so patriotic and build an International partnership with the ESA etc after all one of the primary mission plans for the project is for ISS resupply!

Easier to say as a suggestion than to make happen though.

 

[Timo]

In this time and economy, we have no money for luxuries like space exploration...

Umm, does world history have any examples of situations where economic hardships would have been defeated by saving?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[John Picard]

What do you propose our next step be?

Space probes and continued research on the ISS.

The problem is, the United States won't have a way to continue with research on the ISS. Once the shuttles are retired (and they're already past the operational lifetimes on major components) in May 2010, the US has no manned spaceflight capacity.

How do you think the Russians get up there?

We've had the technology to go to Mars safely from thirty years.

A single manned mission to Mars would gather more information than centuries of unmanned probes.

BS. The cost and the amount of time to/from is far more than a few astronauts could handle. How many probes have been lost in the last 15 years due to technical glitches? $153M down the shitter for a lost probe is easier to swallow than $1B for a lost ship and 3 or 4 lives.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

In this time and economy, we have no money for luxuries like space exploration...

Umm, does world history have any examples of situations where economic hardships would have been defeated by saving?

Timo Saloniemi

The money from a defunded NASA could be diverted to infrastructure programs, unemployment benefits, etc.

We DON'T need it to be spent on sending people 100 miles high to float around and take pretty pictures of the Earth.

NOTHING has been produced from the space program other than sattelite technology and charting earth orbit crossers that benefits mankind that couldn't have been developed more cheaply and readily here on Earth.

 

[Dayton3]

Trying to cut the budget deficit by defunding NASA is like trying to cure cancer by clipping your toenails.

 

[Dayton3]

Space probes and continued research on the ISS.

The problem is, the United States won't have a way to continue with research on the ISS. Once the shuttles are retired (and they're already past the operational lifetimes on major components) in May 2010, the US has no manned spaceflight capacity.

How do you think the Russians get up there?

We've had the technology to go to Mars safely from thirty years.

A single manned mission to Mars would gather more information than centuries of unmanned probes.

BS. The cost and the amount of time to/from is far more than a few astronauts could handle. How many probes have been lost in the last 15 years due to technical glitches? $153M down the shitter for a lost probe is easier to swallow than $1B for a lost ship and 3 or 4 lives.

Most of the probes lost were lost due to errors that a manned crew would either never make or could've easily corrected.

We had the technology to go to Mars with the Apollo program infrastructure.

 

[Dayton3]

A single manned mission to Mars would gather more information than centuries of unmanned probes.

Then why are we still sending unmanned probes to the moon?

Lack of political will.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Trying to cut the budget deficit by defunding NASA is like trying to cure cancer by clipping your toenails.

I didn't say do it to "cut the deficit". I said redistribute the resources to more important and worthy programs...

 

[John Picard]

In this time and economy, we have no money for luxuries like space exploration...

Umm, does world history have any examples of situations where economic hardships would have been defeated by saving?

Timo Saloniemi

The money from a defunded NASA could be diverted to infrastructure programs, unemployment benefits, etc.

We DON'T need it to be spent on sending people 100 miles high to float around and take pretty pictures of the Earth.

NOTHING has been produced from the space program other than sattelite technology and charting earth orbit crossers that benefits mankind that couldn't have been developed more cheaply and readily here on Earth.

Not true. For every $1 spent in the space program the return is ~$25. The humble material called Velcro, was developed as a need to keep materials secured and yet readily removable. The space program is more than taking "pretty pictures".

The problem is, the United States won't have a way to continue with research on the ISS. Once the shuttles are retired (and they're already past the operational lifetimes on major components) in May 2010, the US has no manned spaceflight capacity.

How do you think the Russians get up there?

We've had the technology to go to Mars safely from thirty years.

A single manned mission to Mars would gather more information than centuries of unmanned probes.

BS. The cost and the amount of time to/from is far more than a few astronauts could handle. How many probes have been lost in the last 15 years due to technical glitches? $153M down the shitter for a lost probe is easier to swallow than $1B for a lost ship and 3 or 4 lives.

Most of the probes lost were lost due to errors that a manned crew would either never make or could've easily corrected.

We had the technology to go to Mars with the Apollo program infrastructure.

Really?
http://www.smm.org/buzz/blog/nasas-lost-tool-bag-located-orbit

Remember last week when astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper (a St. Paul native) lost her tool bag while making repairs to the International Space Station? Through the magic of YouTube you can relive the historic moment by watching the the following video.

HUMAN ERROR UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.

And don't forget Apollo 13.

 

[starburst]

Trying to cut the budget deficit by defunding NASA is like trying to cure cancer by clipping your toenails.

I didn't say do it to "cut the deficit". I said redistribute the resources to more important and worthy programs...

How about instead of cutting NASA's budget they cut the budget to the armed forces, the US military spends nearly as much as the rest of the world combined when it comes to defence...how much could you do with just a small percentage of over $500 billion. Obviously Im not being serious, cutting spending would likely put soldiers lives at risk but theres possibly some way they could save money (like not spending cash on weapon improvement competitions and then cancelling them just because politians dont like that a non US company is winning).

Compare that to NASA who in recent years has fluctuated between the $15-20 billion mark.

The way forward is obviously to work with the other major Space Programs, which wont happen as US taxpayers wont like the idea of their money being put into a joint project but I for one can see this being a possible reality in the next hundred years or so.

 

[John Picard]

Trying to cut the budget deficit by defunding NASA is like trying to cure cancer by clipping your toenails.

I didn't say do it to "cut the deficit". I said redistribute the resources to more important and worthy programs...

How about instead of cutting NASA's budget they cut the budget to the armed forces, the US military spends nearly as much as the rest of the world combined when it comes to defence...how much could you do with just a small percentage of over $500 billion. Obviously Im not being serious, cutting spending would likely put soldiers lives at risk but theres possibly some way they could save money (like not spending cash on weapon improvement competitions and then cancelling them just because politians dont like that a non US company is winning).

Compare that to NASA who in recent years has fluctuated between the $15-20 billion mark.

The way forward is obviously to work with the other major Space Programs, which wont happen as US taxpayers wont like the idea of their money being put into a joint project but I for one can see this being a possible reality in the next hundred years or so.

It seems the top three piggies of the US National Budget are:

1. The Social Security Administration
2. Health and Human Services
3. The Department of Defense

The Department of Energy is a complete waste as is the Department of Education. Funnel the monetary resources of those two (and maybe one other department) to NASA for money well spent.

I still fail to see the need for a manned mission to Mars.