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Back when I was a kid in the 50’s, everybody thought for sure we would be in space by 2000. I mean really in space with at least a working space station and regular missions to the Moon if not a colony. Not the hokey, useless space station that we can’t get to anymore anyway.
When the Russians were first to launch a satellite (Sputnik will be forever etched in my brain), the US rushed to catch up. The Moon landing was a triumph and right on schedule but after that things went horrible wrong. The adventure was over. The bureaucrats took charge and we wasted the next 50 years going nowhere with the space shuttle – the biggest waste of government dollars since the Great Society.
The public didn’t know. The NASA mouthpieces had a good story – if you didn’t think about it. A reusable vehicle makes sense so long as it gets you where you need to go. Unfortunately people with lives to live don’t spend much time thinking about space. We didn’t know that the worthless space shuttle couldn’t reach the altitude necessary for space exploration or a station that could serve as a way station to the moon. The $174 billion cost of this program to nowhere may not seem so big compared to TARP but the dollar amount is only part of the cost. Since the program started in the 60’s the US space program has been heading in the wrong direction on a road to nowhere. Now that the space shuttle has been axed we are up the creek without a paddle. We can’t even go back to the Apollo program because we threw away all that technology. Thank you government bureaucrats!
Looking back, it is obvious that only fools would leave the future of the human race to a government program. We were naive in the 60’s. We still thought that we could do anything so long as we developed a government program for it. As we now know surveying the wreckage of the paradise that used to be California President Reagan was right when he said. ‘Government is not the solution. Government is the problem.’
Contrast the space shuttle debacle with the private space program which has so far accomplished far more than NASA in making space open to exploration. They have a reusable craft which doesn’t look anything like the clunky shuttle and they will be offering commercial flights into space soon. No astronauts. No space walks. Just real tourists seeing space up close and personal. You can book a flight right now. They also have vision. They are planning for a space station which will be a hotel as well as a transit point for trips to the Moon. We are finally going to get into space but not with the government driving
So lets kiss off the $450 billion or so that NASA has cost us to date off as a lesson and kill NASA. We don’t need to spend any more money letting them lead us further and further away from space. I see the future of space and it doesn’t have the government’s stamp on it. The future of space is in private hands.
The future of ANYTHING that has a future is in private hands. It used to be that government did at least one thing well…defend our borders. Now? Not even that. Just ask the sheriff of Pinio Co, AZ.
Bob,
Maybe we can contract with BP to protect our borders? Maybe we should ask Sir Richard?
Branson could probably do it. Hell, BP is unpopular these days, but they could probably do it too.
You know who else could do it? STATE and COUNTY government…AZ state and county governments, if the DOJ and foreign governments would get the hell out of the way.
Bob,
You haven’t been to California lately. This state can’t do anything but spend money.
LOL…I doubt I’ll b in California any time soon…too damn far to drive and the TSA says I’m not allowed to fly.
Oh well…only thing I ever found there I liked was the wimmin and I couldn’t keep up with a young hardbody now anyway.
Just as well. You might want to consider older wimmin. We’ve got a bunch of them faked out by feminizm. They have carreers but nothing else. Somebody that can fix okra and french toast could sweep them off their feet.
Hmmm
I am not sure how I feel about this. I love the idea of spaceflight and exploration. Nasa was once an awesome entity, but it really has been in decline and mismangement.
My personal feeling is that this is due to a LACK of government and public interest. Any real space plan has to be backed by real money -government type money-
That being said, there is certainly a feeling that we would be pissing any money allocated by the government in that direction down the drain.
ON the flipside I dread the idea of 200 years from now sending out colonists to the Facebook moon that circles Microsoft V In the Toyota Solar System.
Steve,
The less that government is interested in a thing the better it does. The government in California is interested in everything and we are just about dead here. All we need is another term for Governor Moonbeam.
And don’t forget that the government doesn’t have any money except for what it takes from it’s citizens. When is the last time they asked your permission to spend?