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NASA In Financial Trouble
JoeGee writes "And it's not the Russian Space Agency. According to the Associated Press, as reported on Yahoo, NASA is looking at 4 billion US dollars worth of budget over-runs through 2006. This isn't surprising, considering the lack of budget increases, and the continued financial pressure.
It sure sounds bad for NASA, but I'm guessing one of their accountants just swapped a dollar sign with a British pound sign, and their math is off by a few billion.
And when our oceans get seeded with alien life that migrates onto land and reproduces by shooting little hatchlings into us which can't be removed and we aren't able to move into space chandeliers because we don't have the expertise to build them because building space stations were a complete waste of money....what'll that guy be saying then?!
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis hebes
That just happends to be about how much more money I will see every 2 weeks in my pay check after the "tax break"
I can do without the money if it means human curosity can not be fullfilled....
Burn Hollywood Burn
F'ing Bush..
Why dont you complain to the people who allocate the money, ie: your congressmen. Bush tells them what he wants, and eventually signs the bill, but they have the opportunity to control and the policy.
Mooniacs for iOS and Android
NASA is and has always been somewhat of a supporting agency to US armed forces, so stuff about its budgeting should be considered along with military budgeting issues.
Remember that Bush is demanding accurate accounting from the Pentagon now about its needs for the year- it won't budget deliberately expecting supplementary spending bills in the middle of the year. Every agency, including NASA, will have to have tight budgets from here on in.
This is a manner of managerial control; without secret expenditures, there can be no secret activity with government money. The same applies to NASA
Nasa's unprecedented reporting of its true budgetary situation fits clearly into political context here. It's jumping the gun with full financial disclosure as well as pressuring congresspeople and scientists who support it to raise more money for next fiscal year, even if it has to function under a tighter accounting.
Of course, this may be the start of more privatization of space. NASA can do much more with private money than it can with public money. Remember a lot of the funds in Iran-contra affair were originally private money.
Goat sex free since 2001
I don't think this is a Republican vs. Democrat issue. Neither side is championing space exploration or more NASA funding in anything other than a token way.
One problem is that it isn't as easy to answer the "What's the point?" question as it is for funding for life sciences research like fighting cancer, a vaccine for HIV, etc.
Why explore Mars? Personally I haven't a clue. Why try to find a cure for cancer? Because I might get it. When political pollsters get the mood of people I think Space Research is near the bottom of the list.
Whenever a NASA article comes up on slashdot, the user comments always break my heart.
Fact: Good engineering is EXPENSIVE. Building, testing, and operating a manned spacecraft is a tad more complex than writing a perl script or configuring a linux kernel.
Add to those pressures a dwindling budget (a fraction of what it was during the Apollo era) and very little public support, even from those who would present themselves as forward-thinking technical types, and I'm frankly surprised that NASA's track record in the 1990s was as good as it was.
Alas, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that modern American culture is probably incapable of supporting a serious and useful space program, and I can only hope that I am still alive, and useful, when other nations get their act together to pick up where we left off.
:Michael
Working on government dollars, I really feel for NASA's plight.
Despite their desire to "Just Do Good Space Science", their money originates from a political process that is subject to the kind of vicissitudes that would make your stomach feel like its been stapled to a pig carcass in the hot sun. The higher ups in NASA that have to deal with congressional funding authorities are worth every penny you pay them.
I recall many bright idealistic astronomers and physicists from school that I wish could really contribute to the agenda of what they get to work on at NASA.
Imagine getting the ideas of what to do from the bottom up instead of the top down. What a concept!
I know, I know, the public wants bread and circus, so we'll just end up funding whatever contributes to those ends (emotion-ridden manned missions with entertainment value), but allow me to fantasize for a few seconds...
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Don't knock the Mil spending. Its one of the few area's you can get funding for things that look even close to pure research - be that physics, biochem, whatever. It does not _HAVE_ to make a profit - the first time in is always expensive. If your lucky, the tech/knowhow will work its way back into your lives.
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU