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People Believe NASA Funded As Well As US Military

Posted by Zonk on from the nasa-engineers-crying-into-their-keyboards-right-now dept.

QuantumG writes "An essay on the Space Review site is reporting that a just-completed study indicates the average citizen has no idea how much funding NASA gets. Respondents generally estimated NASA's allocation of the national budget to be approximately 24% (it's actually closer to 0.58%) and the Department of Defense budget to be approximately 33% (it's actually closer to 21%). In other words, respondents believed NASA's budget approaches that of the Department of Defense, which receives almost 38 times more money. Once informed of the actual allocations, they were almost uniformly surprised. One of the more vocal participants exclaimed, 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"

12 of 320 comments (clear)

  1. I boldly post by McGiraf · · Score: 4, Funny

    where no one posted before.

    1. Re:I boldly post by dgun · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's not a troll. A troll for Slashdot would be something like:

      OMG!1!@ Vista is awesome! I'm so glad Bill Gates invented computerz.

      Or would that be flamebait?

      --
      FAQs are evil.
  2. Vocal Participant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    One of the more vocal participants exclaimed, 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"

    Must be talking about Iraq

  3. What do you mean by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    One of the more vocal participants exclaimed, 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"
    We've gone to war, where you wanna be!

  4. 24% (it's actually closer to 0.58%) by niceone · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, 12%?

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
  5. Re:The even more surprising thing is by dgun · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well of course not. Those particular expenses are on the Visa. Thank God we can just print more money, huh?

    --
    FAQs are evil.
  6. Americans know lots of things. by hyades1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Americans might not know NASA versus Defense Department budgets and all that useless crap, but I bet the majority could pick Britney Spears' crotch out of a line-up.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    1. Re:Americans know lots of things. by xkillkillx · · Score: 2, Funny

      Leave Britney alone!

    2. Re:Americans know lots of things. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Hey,

      Better than picking a line-up out of Brittney Spears crotch!

  7. We have been to ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2, Funny
    Typical uninformed citizen moans 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"

    Not True! We have been to Iraq, Kuwait, Afganistan, Panama ... Soon we will be going to Iran, Pakistan... What rot these guys are talkin' 'bout?

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  8. Re:Federal budget vs. GDP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... but rather how they compare as a percentage of GDP

    Why does it make sense to divide this statistic by GDP?

    Dividing by GDP is statistical trick used in the US to make numbers look lower. Did you know that the USA has the lowest IQ per GDP on the planet? What does that prove?

  9. Re:US military spending by Gigiya · · Score: 2, Funny

    I bring up the reality of what is happening in the US in common discussions with people.
    You must be that guy at work.