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Future of NASA's Manned Spaceflight Looks Bleak
coondoggie writes "Things don't look good for NASA when the report outlining its future begins: 'The US human spaceflight program appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory. [NASA] is perpetuating the perilous practice of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources. Space operations are among the most complex and unforgiving pursuits ever undertaken by humans. It really is rocket science. Space operations become all the more difficult when means do not match aspirations.' Today the Augustine Commission handed to the White House the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee summary report, after months of expert review and testimony. Many observers expected a bleak report, but ultimately the future of US manned space flight will hinge on how the report's conclusions are interpreted. Keep in mind too that NASA has spent almost $8 billion of a planned $40 billion to develop systems for a return to the Moon."
Because the Soyuz is OMG COMMUNIST spacecraft, silly!
It would have been much cheaper to consider the Hubble disposable and replace as necessary. Just like the re-usable aspect of the Shuttle itself, which was supposed to save money but never did.
Atheists realize that every species becomes either space-faring, or extinct. The Earth will not be around forever.
But apparently they DON'T realise that every species becomes extinct sooner or later.
Christians believe that they will be abducted by a sky-zombie and taken to fairy-land. It says so right in this book!
Lot's of atheists also believe in space fairies and "sky zombies" - they just call them aliens. In fact I misuse the term 'also' since believing in aliens is in fact much more like believing in sky zombies then believing in a Deity or Deities.
Aliens - come from the sky
Deities - don't.
Aliens - like zombies?
Deities - not.
So a probable 1/2 beats a probable 0/2...
"Robots are nice, but a scientist on the ground for five minutes may well have gotten more done then everything the mars rovers have done since they arrived (well, spotting the evidence of moving water might not have happened since it required time, but that was just pure luck anyway). It would cost more, yes... but it really does get more done, and also inspires the public more then just pictures. Which means more money to do science with."
Tell the astronauts to get off their asses then. The humans exploring mars using robotic probes are kicking their asses with a tiny fraction of the funding, and, according to you, a less effective approach.