U.S. Satellite Programs in Jeopardy of Collapse

smooth wombat writes "A committee of the National Academy of Sciences, headed by Richard Anthens, has warned that 'the vitality of Earth science and application programs has been placed at substantial risk by a rapidly shrinking budget.' The list of Earth-observing satellite programs affected is a long one and includes satellite programs which observe nearly every aspect of Earth's climate. A delay in launching a replacement satellite or the disabling of a current satellite without a replacement could mean that data necessary to monitor or predict an upcoming event would be severely restricted. For its part NASA says that tight budgets force it to cut funding for all but the most vital programs. 'We simply cannot afford all of the missions that our scientific constituencies would like us to sponsor,' NASA administrator Michael Griffin told members of Congress when he testified before the House Science Committee February 16."

Comments

Good idea though

[LeonGeeste]

Cutting veterans' benefits is probably the best way to save taxpayer money on the budget. I mean, the veterans already provided their military service, right? So if we were to cut their benefits, what are they going to to do? Take back their service? Sorry, you can't (causally) do that. In contrast, if you cut education spending, education suffers, if you cut satellite spending, satellites suffer, etc. On top of that, these benefits are paid based on previous promises. But Congress never agreed to pay these benefits, so taxpayers never consented to this future expenditure. Everyone going into the armed forces knows that all veterans' benefits are provided Gloria Deus, by the grace of God. Congress is under no obligation to pay any of it.