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Debunking the Trillion-Dollar Space Myth

Posted by simoniker on from the pinky-raised-to-face dept.

jfoust writes "When the President and NASA announced the agency's new space initiative, including sending humans back to the Moon and on to Mars, many news reports claimed that the plan could cost as much as $1 trillion. According to this Space Review article, that trillion-dollar price tag is a myth: it was based on erroneous data and analysis, in large part by a single Associated Press reporter, and propagated by many other reporters too busy -- or too lazy -- to check on the facts. Could this kill the plan before it has a chance to start?"

4 of 590 comments (clear)

  1. It's ok by Fisher99 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    With M$ new pricing policy and sco's take no prisoners attitude the Bush administration will have enough capital to finance the project. The only thing is that the NASA logo would be replaced by "Microsoft, opening the windows to the skys" and sco on the spokes of the landing gears. Multi-corps will probably be financing space exploration in the futre.

  2. Re:No, NASA can handle it just fine themselves by prisoner-of-enigma · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    1) Bush does not really care if it is funded or not. The speech and goals are just political mumbo-jumbo, like his AIDS research promises...

    And if Bush had failed to put forth any spending for Mars or for AIDS, you'd have been right there screaming "you see? He doesn't care about people or space exploration, he's just an insenstive conservative politician!" That's the problem with Bush-haters: if you don't do anything, you get lambasted for being uncaring. If you do propose something, you get lambasted for posturing and being uncaring.

    Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

    --
    In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  3. Re:Facts are seen as irrelevant.. by Enry · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Liberal media is a myth for the most part. Some reporters are liberal-leaning on social issues since they're highly educated, but since they make far more than the average family, they tend to lean further to the conservative on financial matters.

    Read "What Liberal Media" for a good overview.

  4. You are so right... by cnelzie · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...I mean, if we can't make it possible within OUR lifetimes, we better not try. Even if what we do would provide those that have yet to be born, something to grow and build upon...

    We might as well go back to wearing simple robes, stop using all this high-falutin' technocrap and go back to being 'mindless' peasants serving our Glorious Lord!

    Shut your pie hole, you hack.

    --
    If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?