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Is the ISS Really Worth $100 Billion?
Ponca City writes "JR Minkel writes on Space.com that as NASA celebrates the 10th anniversary of astronauts living on the space station — and with construction essentially complete — the question remains: will the International Space Station ever really pay off scientifically? The space agency contends that the weightless environment provided by the station offers a unique way of unmasking processes of cell growth and chemistry that are hidden on Earth, but some critics don't see a zero gravity laboratory as filling a crucial scientific need. Gregory Petsko, a biochemist at Brandeis University, says the only basic science justification he has ever heard for the station is that protein molecules form superior crystals in the microgravity of space than they do on Earth and a best-case scenario, in terms of return on investment, would be if a space-grown crystal were used to design a blockbuster pharmaceutical drug that worked by precisely targeting one of those proteins. Naturally NASA sees things differently. 'I think those who are naysayers haven't given us a chance — haven't given us enough time to show what we can do. We're just now turning the path to be able to go full force on our science. In the past we had to fit it in around assembly, we didn't have the facilities available, and the crew was always busy.'"
I hear they are coming out with a new flavor .. of tang.
That has to be worth something.
It's easy to see it's not a tough decision, since we have both!
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
Semper Non-sequitor!
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
When you're half way to mars, a malfunctioning toilet would be a shitty way to die.
I see what you did there.
Breakfast served all day!
what. the. fuck. does. that. mean...?
Budget cuts.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
United States are a superpower? Ghmm, somebody please tell China that the fatties are getting all worked up and ambitious again...
People in the ISS staring back at Earth while a huge asteroid wipes off the planet killing off all mammals would probably say "yup... that's some nice ROI.. good investing".
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky