The Future of NASA

fishbonez writes "According to this article, the President's new space exploration initiative parallels his military strategy for space. The article doesn't directly say that NASA will become an integral part of the military plan but clearly that conclusion could be drawn without the need for a tinfoil hat. We have already seen that Hubble will be allowed to expire prematurely as a result of this new initiative. Is the re-allocation of funds within NASA really for getting to the Moon and Mars? Or is it just a cover for shifting toward military space applications? If true, how badly will NASA's scientific mission be effected if it becomes a conduit for giving research and development money to defense contractors?" UPI has a lengthy piece covering the development of the new space plan.

Comments

peaceniks

[quetzalc0atl]

oh boo hoo. unless someone is utterly without reason they would already realize by now that space is the next battlefield.

anywhere that there are resources, there will be fighting. lets be the first to get out there ourselves, and stop whining about it. afterall, you think apollo was just about getting moon rocks??

Every heard of the Carlyle Group?

[shanen]

Carlyle is a big BushCo business, and this space thing is exactly their kind of scam. They mostly look for defense-related companies that are relatively cheap. The "relatively" is the tricky part. It depends either on insider knowledge that is liable to soon change the value of a target company's products, or sometimes the use of overt influence to change defense spending priorities to make the company's products more valuable. In either case, what they bought cheap suddenly becomes much more valuable--and they sell it off and look for another.

Space technology has been on the fringes of their interests. However, if you want to figure out the real motivation behind this latest space deal, look to see what the Carlyle folks have been buying lately. These guys only think with the brains in their hip pockets.

By the way, Poppy Bush and his friends are major participants. Saudis like the royals and Bin Ladins used to be big players in the group, too, but they were persuaded to get out. Looked bad, you know.

Re:Hubble Schmubble

[Bowie J. Poag]

Did you bother read a single word I wrote before writing your reply?

Re:China's military plan? Human Wave Attacks!

[tealover]

They have a young, motivated space corps without much politics (actually, I am assuming not much politics, but hard to say)

You're rather naive, aren't you? And probably stupid as well.

Re:No, we don't!

[mr_z_beeblebrox]

since when does international law mean anything?

It hasn't since the election of 2000. That is why we are in Iraq.

Political Vi-ag-ra

[saha]

Doesn't surprise me that the Hubble which has proven to be one of the most useful and successful instruments in astronomy would get axed in this myopic administration. As one humorist put it, what else can show the President's political virility better than a gigantic Saturn V rocket shooting off to the moon to make a pointless lunar colony (also helps distract the public on other more pressing matters back here on Earth). We have robots on Mars taking very nice pictures, sending back measurements of the atmospheric and soil samples readings. We don't need to send a human out there, especially to coax one's national ego when deficit spending is endangering the long term fiscal health of the economy.

I.M.F. Says U.S. Debts Threaten World Economy
" The International Monetary Fund Wednesday urged the Bush administration to develop a plan to balance the federal budget, saying tax cuts had given the economy only a modest lift, and warning that widening fiscal deficits held dangers for domestic and global growth."

I always thought the IMF warned countries like Argentina for their spending behavior.
My 2 cents,

http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view/01_large.shtml
http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view/06_large.shtml