Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NASA To Drastically Cut Mars Mission Funding

Posted by timothy on from the pick-a-new-genre dept.

DesScorp writes "Faced with budget cuts, and forced to choose between deep space observation or a mission to Mars, CBS reports that NASA will kill most of its Mars exploration programs. Sources in NASA say that of the $300 million being cut from the space agency's budget, two-thirds were for a joint US-EU program for Martian exploration. NASA spokesman David Weaver said that, just like the rest of the federal government, the space agency has to make 'tough choices and live within our means.'"

4 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. So, how much do they spend on... by Kagetsuki · · Score: 1, Informative

    "Anti-Piracy" campaigns, handouts to religious organizations, wellfare for illegal aliens who don't even pay taxes, bailouts, corn/pork/cheese subsidies, etc.

    But fuck it America, throw away the future! Live in the now! Run up your debt while you throw away anything related to education and science. Maybe you could go loan some money to the arabas again and then start some wars with them again. How about you keep bitching about communist China while you increasingly become a socialist nanny-state. Set your future on a whole generation of poorly-educated obese children who write in texting abbreviations and speak like they gangstas. That'll totally work out!

    1. Re:So, how much do they spend on... by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Informative

      They only pay property tax if they own a place. They do pay sales tax, if they buy locally. However, in most states, the main money is from income taxes, not property taxes.

      In addition, by having illegals work here, they lower the salaries/wages, which lowers the taxes paid.

      Finally, look at alabama. They enacted a anti-illegal bill. Now, I am not in favor of how harsh it is WRT privacy. The ability to stop a car and haul ppl in just because they 'look' illegal, is just plain wrong. BUT, the requirement of e-verify on ALL businesses has had a telling impact. Namely that for the last 6 months, they have fallen from 10% unemployment to 8% unemployment. In addition, gov. assistance PLUMMETED. Not only is taxes up, but they have said that they can now start increasing money back to education and other programs that had to be cut before. So, to say that illegals are useful to America, is just plain wrong.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    2. Re:So, how much do they spend on... by buddyglass · · Score: 4, Informative

      They only pay property tax if they own a place.

      Wrong. If they occupy space in a rental or apartment the owner pays property tax and rolls that into their rent. If none of them had ever immigrated then the overall population would be lower, less apartment complexes would have been built, meaning less property tax would be collected.

      They do pay sales tax, if they buy locally. However, in most states, the main money is from income taxes, not property taxes.

      This may not be true for those states with the largest illegal immigrant populations. Texas, for instance, derives almost all its revenue from sales and property taxes. There's also the question of how much income the state would actually collect from illegal immigrants if they filed, given the prevalence of low incomes among that population. The biggest "hit" would be that they'd have to pay federal payroll taxes. However, since they can't take advantage of SS or Medicare anyway...

      In addition, by having illegals work here, they lower the salaries/wages, which lowers the taxes paid.

      And by lowering wages they increase the profit margins of their employers and lower the price of goods to consumers.

      Finally, look at alabama.

      Driving out the illegals may also put many Alabama farmers out of business. You point out that unemployment is down and revenue is up. That's the case everywhere. The national unemployment rate is down as well, and most of the illegals who left Alabama are still living in the U.S. Another thing to consider is that the effectiveness of Alabama's new policy is enhanced by the fact that none of its neighbors have a similar policy. Illegals are leaving Alabama because there are better options nearby. If such a policy were enacted at the federal level, and enforced, then it would probably result in fewer illegals in the country, but the steady-state level would not be as low as it currently is in Alabama.

      Here are a couple articles that allege the new law has had less than beneficial effects:

      http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec11/alimmigration_10-13.html (See Jerry Spencer's comments)

      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-15/alabama-s-imperiled-immigration-crackdown-clogs-machinery-of-government.html

  2. Re:JWST? by hde226868 · · Score: 4, Informative

    JWST's funding crisis does not only impact astronomy missions, but all of science funding. This includes planetary missions and also the manned space program. The space review (http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1926/1) has a good summary.