NASA gets desperate. Selling astronaut food and used heat tiles for $23.40 a tile for new program. - Polidicks

[URL=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/so-your-town-didnt-land-a-space-shuttle-nasa-is-offering-heat-shield-tiles-and-astronaut-food-to-schools-some-350-dehydr.html]News from the Front[/uRL] [release]Your city didn’t land a retired space shuttle? NASA is offering other artifacts from the shuttle program, including astronaut meals and heat shield tiles. [B]Some 350 dehydrated meals -- "not for consumption," NASA advises -- and 3,000 thermal tiles are being offered to schools on a first-come, first-served basis.[/B] "Not only are we preserving a critical part of our nation's history, but we are reusing government property in an unexpected way by giving these NASA artifacts a second life in our nation's schools," Steven J. Kempf, commissioner of the General Service Administration's Federal Acquisition Service, said in a statement. The items could be consolation for cities that lost out to Los Angeles, New York, Florida and the Washington area in the fierce competition for a shuttle. [B]There is a shipping and handling charge of $28.03 for a package of food (an entree, dessert and a drink) and $23.40 for a tile. At least that’s less than the $28.8 million that each shuttle recipient must come up with to cover preparation and delivery costs.[/b] The space agency has lent out tires used on the shuttle landing gear to educational institutions, and it's promised other artifacts to institutions that lost out in the competition for a shuttle. The Johnson Space Center in Houston, for example, will receive shuttle flight deck pilot and commander seats. Cities due to receive shuttles shouldn’t worry that they will arrive without their protective tiles. A NASA spokesman said the tiles being offered to schools are primarily test tiles. [b]The tiles are a hot item. A former Kennedy Space Center worker earlier this year came under investigation for allegedly selling at least 12 of the tiles on EBay for about $600 to $800 each.[/b][/release]

Cut military funding, increase NASA funding, etc.

you know, you'd think congress would realize they were doing this and [I]maybe[/I] give them some more fucking money.

Wow, talk about desperate. Who the hell in their right mind would buy a used heat tile? Or a dehydrated meal I can't even eat?

Title is misleading. They're not selling the food and tiles for a profit. There's just a ~$20-30 charge for shipping and handling: nowhere near the $600-800 stated in the last paragraph.

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;32259140]Wow, talk about desperate. Who the hell in their right mind would buy a used heat tile? Or a dehydrated meal I can't even eat?[/QUOTE] Rareity, sell at pawn shop and be all like yo i got this shit its rare

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;32259140]Wow, talk about desperate. Who the hell in their right mind would buy a used heat tile? Or a dehydrated meal I can't even eat?[/QUOTE] I'd like to get my hands on one of the tiles, it's a small piece of history.

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;32259140]Wow, talk about desperate. Who the hell in their right mind would buy a used heat tile? Or a dehydrated meal I can't even eat?[/QUOTE] I'd buy one, those are really cool. In fact I think I might.

[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;32259232]I'd like to get my hands on one of the tiles, it's a small piece of history.[/QUOTE] Not to mention it might make a great skillet. If that thing can take the heat from re-entry, it can cook my eggs just fine.

Will build spaceship for work.

for anyone wondering, on this page theres a link to a request form for the tiles or food, but it's down at the moment, and I think they're only selling them to colleges, universities, and schools. [url]http://gsaxcess.gov/NASAWel.htm[/url]

How much funding does NASA get compared to the US military?

they wouldnt have to do this if the us would stop spending on useless shit

[QUOTE=UnknownDude;32259065]Cut military funding, increase NASA funding, etc.[/QUOTE] Better yet: Cut military funding, massively restructure, overhaul or outright dismantle NASA so that it isn't a bureaucratic black hole of money, THEN increase space exploration funding

I have a heat tile! but it is unused, I'm unsure if it even works also.

[QUOTE=Ermac20;32259448]they wouldnt have to do this if the us would stop spending on useless shit[/QUOTE] Ironically, funding NASA for the last decade or so has contributed a lot to that useless shit.

[QUOTE=gazzy_GUI;32259438]How much funding does NASA get compared to the US military?[/QUOTE] The US military's air conditioning budged is about the same size as NASA's budget.

Hopefully some other country will get with the program and do something incredible with space exploration so that the US will feel the need to be better than them and try to compete.

[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;32259496]The US military's air conditioning budged is about the same size as NASA's budget.[/QUOTE] Seeing how hot the desert is, that's money well spent.

[QUOTE=Sottalytober;32259553]Seeing how hot the desert is, that's money well spent.[/QUOTE] I'm not denying that, but we really should cut down on military spending and put it into science and research like NASA

Astronaut food? You know somebody's gonna buy this expecting it to be like MRE's for their apocalypse stash. Just in case the world explodes and they have to live in space.

Damn, title made me think they were selling used tiles for 30 dollars. I'd have bought one in a heartbeat. $600 is a little out of my budget though :v:

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;32259140]Wow, talk about desperate. Who the hell in their right mind would buy a used heat tile? Or a dehydrated meal I can't even eat?[/QUOTE] Imagine that heat tile allowed a shuttle to safely reenter earth's atmosphere. It's been to Space an accomplisment that most of us wish to achieve. And that food was discarded by a full astronaut in space, goal # 2. [editline]12th September 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;32259496]The US military's air conditioning budged is about the same size as NASA's budget.[/QUOTE] more actually

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;32259140]Wow, talk about desperate. Who the hell in their right mind would buy a used heat tile? Or a dehydrated meal I can't even eat?[/QUOTE] Uh they were dehydrated for a reason add water and you can eat them

Guys. Selling tiles for $800 is going to net NASA about $10,000. Designing the curiosity rover cost NASA $2.3 billion. They are not doing this out of desperation for funding, they are doing it because they want to return some cool things to the community. On that note, I resent that half a penny for every dollar I pay in taxes goes to NASA, while 80% of the reason I pay taxes is that I know it funds NASA.

[QUOTE=Tacosheller;32259897]Uh they were dehydrated for a reason add water and you can eat them[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=the fucking article]Some 350 dehydrated meals -- [B]"not for consumption,"[/B] NASA advises -- and 3,000 thermal tiles are being offered to schools on a first-come, first-served basis.[/QUOTE] guess you missed that part

i wish i was a trillionaire give all my cash to nasa or make the ultimate future private space corporation shizzit it'd be pimp get us to mars in the next decade or less

End the "war" on "drugs", fund these people instead.

Tiles that can protect the space shuttle from extreme heat and high speed impacts for sell, you say?! Maybe now, I can build a powered armor suit. [QUOTE=UnknownDude;32259065]Cut military funding, increase NASA funding, etc.[/QUOTE] The military with it's bloated budget can send millions of men to two distant nations simultaneously for a decade. They can demolish an entire nation and then rebuild it. Imagine if all that money was given to NASA. We could have put millions of people on Mars and built a city that could last for a centuries.

[QUOTE=cqbcat;32260649]Tiles that can protect the space shuttle from extreme heat and high speed impacts for sell, you say?! Maybe now, I can build a powered armor suit. The military with it's bloated budget can send millions of men to two distant nations simultaneously for a decade. They can demolish an entire nation and then rebuild it. Imagine if all that money was given to NASA. We could have put millions of people on Mars and built a city that could last for a centuries.[/QUOTE] The interest that the military must pay on debt due to wars next year is between $109 billion and $432 billion. NASA's budget next year is $19 billion. It can be argued that much of the military budget goes to research, which benefits science and civilians alike, but it is undeniable that the interest costs on debt to to basically pointless wars that should never have been paid for on credit are a black hole for money. I would have loved for this money to have gone to NASA, but even if it had gone to public schools, clean water research or even government lemonade stands it would have been better spent than where it's going now.