Air Conditioning the Military Costs More Than NASA’s Entire Budget
133 replies, posted
Its strange dont you think that whenever we think of humans achievements we think of going to the moon and traveling space but whenever we think of there failures we think of war. Strange that a summing up of human achievements gets less resources then are military air conditioning budget.
[editline]18th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=aznz888;30543659]this is one of those required parts of war through. you may complain that it's expensive, but you can't send tens of thousands of soldiers into a desert and expect them to automatically adjust to the environment there. it's a necessity for shelter and survival.
watch as people pin the blame on the U.S. army for making convoys that deliver supplies, and then complain when those aren't "guarded" enough.[/QUOTE]
Its not about there air conditioning its more about how much we are spending on war and how little we are spending on nasa. I mean really future generations are just going to laugh at us.
[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;30547176]Its strange dont you think that whenever we think of humans achievements we think of going to the moon and traveling space but whenever we think of there failures we think of war. Strange that a summing up of human achievements gets less resources then are military air conditioning budget.
[editline]18th June 2011[/editline]
Its not about there air conditioning its more about how much we are spending on war and how little we are spending on nasa. I mean really future generations are just going to laugh at us.[/QUOTE]
Future generations laughing at us will be like us laughing at the people of the middle ages.
Almost all human technology has come about from war or the necessity or waging it more efficiently. It's why Europe ended up being technologically centuries ahead of many other nations who had much fewer wars.
[QUOTE=MR-X;30543584]It is not like they get to chill out in a AC cooled environment all fucking day. The only time they get AC is more then likely when they go back to base. I don't know about you, the average temperature is like 110-120F in Afghanistan, and at night the temperature can drop drastically in to the negatives.[/QUOTE]
That doesn't help the giant mass of support staff at base. Medical staff, technicians and engineers, administrative staff. [B]Especially[/B] the medical staff.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;30547280]Almost all human technology has come about from war or the necessity or waging it more efficiently. It's why Europe ended up being technologically centuries ahead of many other nations who had much fewer wars.[/QUOTE]
The only reason why war gives us so much technology is because we spend so many resources on it. If we spent as many on doing other things we would be getting new technology out of that. Also we make fun of the people middle ages all the time for there crazy beliefs.
[QUOTE=Cheezy;30543145]This is why we will never actually colonize another planet.[/QUOTE]
To be fair, we don't deserve it. Yet.
[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;30547384]The only reason why war gives us so much technology is because we spend so many resources on it. If we spent as many on doing other things we would be getting new technology out of that. Also we make fun of the people middle ages all the time for there crazy beliefs.[/QUOTE]
War gives us so much new technology because it is made out of necessity. Necessity to beat the other guy. This is one of the reasons Europe was technologically much further ahead than the rest of the world during most of our recent history.
[QUOTE=Chrille;30547527]War gives us so much new technology because it is made out of necessity. Necessity to beat the other guy. This is one of the reasons Europe was technologically much further ahead than the rest of the world during most of our recent history.[/QUOTE]
Yea and I think we have just as much necessity to cure a disease or go to see new planets as we do attacking the other guy. Really I dont think military scientist somehow work better or more encouraged then any other type of scientist. Really Its more that we have way more scientists and resources invested in the military that causes it to create more then because war just causes a scientist to work better.
This is so sad to see. The British Soldiers and marines don't get anything as near as this and yet they are one of the best fighting forces in the world.
/bias
the locals seem to manage.
[QUOTE=scotland1;30547674]the locals seem to manage.[/QUOTE]
African tribes can manage without access to the internet, clean water and a steady influx of food. Does that mean you should toss out your PC, drink from ponds and hunt and grow all your food?
[QUOTE=Arachnidus;30547751]African tribes can manage without access to the internet, clean water and a steady influx of food. Does that mean you should toss out your PC, drink from ponds and hunt and grow all your food?[/QUOTE]
No. Because I have money.
[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;30547645]Yea and I think we have just as much necessity to cure a disease or go to see new planets as we do attacking the other guy. Really I dont think military scientist somehow work better or more encouraged then any other type of scientist. Really Its more that we have way more scientists and resources invested in the military that causes it to create more then because war just causes a scientist to work better.[/QUOTE]
It might not be as urgent now as it was back then, but the logic is simple; you had to be better equipped to survive. Which is the reason why technology progresses so much during wars, and also the reason so many resources are being spent on it anyway, helping the technology progress.
And while I agree that it's as necessary to cure diseases or promote space travel, the people who control the money don't.
[QUOTE=luke7dude;30547661]This is so sad to see. The British Soldiers and marines don't get anything as near as this and yet they are one of the best fighting forces in the world.
/bias[/QUOTE]
You probably learn to be cost effective if you don't have the money.
[QUOTE=Chrille;30547781]It might not be as urgent now as it was back then, but the logic is simple; you had to be better equipped to survive. Which is the reason why technology progresses so much during wars, and also the reason so many resources are being spent on it anyway, helping the technology progress.
And while I agree that it's as necessary to cure diseases or promote space travel, the people who control the money don't.[/QUOTE]
OIL!
[QUOTE=MightyMax;30543306]A comfortable soldier is a happy soldier though. And a happy soldier is a safe and productive soldier.[/QUOTE]
And a happy NASA is rockets and lasers and science and moon and mars and space and funnnn
[QUOTE=Chrille;30547781] you had to be better equipped to survive.[/QUOTE]
Just because a fear of getting taken over might cause more resources to be put into the military wont mean it will make the scientist work any hardert then they would if they were working on rockets or cures to cancer especially since scientist are usually to smart to believe that the taliban will destroy america.
[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;30548008]Just because a fear of getting taken over might cause more resources to be put into the military wont mean it will make the scientist work any hardert then they would if they were working on rockets or cures to cancer especially since scientist are usually to smart to believe that the taliban will destroy america.[/QUOTE]
Today, the military scientists usually develop new technology to counter what they are developing in countries such as China and Russia.
Guess why we invented rockets and aviation was perfected? Because of warfare. The same reason goes with maritime technologies. The knowledge to make the atomic bomb that subsequently resulted in nuclear energy? Warfare. Computers were also made into what they are today because of warfare. The Cold War was also a technological arms race.
Anyway, as I said, this probably isn't as urgent now, as it would have been in medieval Europe. And no, it obviously isn't fear on an individual level that motivates them.
By the way, as I said, the resources used to fund this is part of the reason.
[QUOTE=SKEEA;30545461]I joined the military to protect the freedoms that we hold dear. Thank you private cupcakes. Thank you for exercising your right to free speech.[/QUOTE]
I salute you. My dad is in the Air Force.
To hell with all these ungrateful bastards.
[QUOTE=Arachnidus;30547751]African tribes can manage without access to the internet, clean water and a steady influx of food. Does that mean you should toss out your PC, drink from ponds and hunt and grow all your food?[/QUOTE]
im not costing the US government $20bil
The invention of the gun led to machinery to drill out cylinders to mass produce with precision. These machines were later used to make steam engine pipes.
Machines used to make wooden blocks for ship ropes later were to make the first machine tools.
Roads, railways, ports have been built for the purpose of moving armies around.
Censuses were introduced to help tax populations and find out those eligible for conscription.
Margarine, Bovril, canned food, etc were all invented to provide preserved food for soldiers.
Men drew illustrations of zeppelins dropping bombs before the first ones even flew.
Most of the time, its war that drives technological development and many put in funding/resources/time/effort eager to outdo their rivals. Peaceful societies have unfortunately decayed and slowed in progress. (Roman Empire in its later years, China at times)
War will remain with humans till the end of time, just that it might not be necessarily Humans killing Humans by the end.
[QUOTE=Chrille;30548207]Today, the military scientists usually develop new technology to counter what they are developing in countries such as China and Russia.
Guess why we invented rockets and aviation was perfected? Because of warfare. The same reason goes with maritime technologies. The knowledge to make the atomic bomb that subsequently resulted in nuclear energy? Warfare. Computers were also made into what they are today because of warfare. The Cold War was also a technological arms racre[/QUOTE]
Again we spend so way more resources on military then we do anything else its no wonder there are so many things coming out of it. If we spent more on resources on nasa then we would see an increase in invention too.
If we are talking about necessity though then the medical field would be the most intense since they have to deal with deadly pathogens evolving ways to fight are medicine.
Just make solar powered AC and then it's good.
[QUOTE=luke7dude;30547771]No. Because I have money.[/QUOTE]
So you're better than them because you were born in a better country than them, and have wads of printed paper? :colbert:
[QUOTE=GrabbinPills;30543173]air conditioning on the moon.
do it.[/QUOTE]
That's dumb, all you have to do is open a window. :downsrim:
[QUOTE=Arachnidus;30543382]To be fair, it's fucking hot everywhere the US Military is currently deployed. AC is a necessary creature comfort of modern society. This isn't all that scandalous or a big deal, it just goes to show how much of the military we've put there that we need that much air conditioning.[/QUOTE]
The remarkable thing is that they're using electrical/mechanical units when there's ways to generate refrigerated air just by using heat from the sun.
[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator[/URL]
[editline]18th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Agent_Wesker;30549691]Just make solar powered AC and then it's good.[/QUOTE]
Electrical/mechanical refrigeration on any scale uses quite a bit of power, and high-efficiency units are expensive as balls, never mind that they're trying to cool TENTS in a DESERT. The heat loads must be fucking enormous.
[QUOTE=Trogdon;30543858]oh man air is 20 bil and nasa is 19 mil
wahhhhh
wahhh
wahh
wah[/QUOTE]
oh man people are complaining about the fact that we invest more into keeping the brown-extermination squad comfy than researching technology to better humanity
wahhhhh
wahhh
wahh
wah
[QUOTE=SKEEA;30545461]I joined the military to protect the freedoms that we hold dear. Thank you private cupcakes. Thank you for exercising your right to free speech.[/QUOTE]
you arent protecting anything
$20 Billion on just AC seems like a lot, until you realize that's cheaper per person than normal families in the US
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;30548477]The invention of the gun led to machinery to drill out cylinders to mass produce with precision. These machines were later used to make steam engine pipes.
Machines used to make wooden blocks for ship ropes later were to make the first machine tools.
Roads, railways, ports have been built for the purpose of moving armies around.
Censuses were introduced to help tax populations and find out those eligible for conscription.
Margarine, Bovril, canned food, etc were all invented to provide preserved food for soldiers.
Men drew illustrations of zeppelins dropping bombs before the first ones even flew.
Most of the time, its war that drives technological development and many put in funding/resources/time/effort eager to outdo their rivals. Peaceful societies have unfortunately decayed and slowed in progress. (Roman Empire in its later years, China at times)
War will remain with humans till the end of time, just that it might not be necessarily Humans killing Humans by the end.[/QUOTE]
The thing is, we can't just sweep across the country engaging in battles where both the armies take shots at each other and finally capturing their capitol, killing their leader, and disbanding their army.
Because they have none of those, these are terrorists and insurgents, not Nazi Germany.
[QUOTE=Kopimi;30551352]oh man people are complaining about the fact that we invest more into keeping the brown-extermination squad comfy than researching technology to better humanity
wahhhhh
wahhh
wahh
wah
you arent protecting anything[/QUOTE]
He who defends everything defends nothing. - Frederick the Great of Prussia.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;30551530]He who defends everything defends nothing. - Frederick the Great of Prussia.[/QUOTE]
Not relevant at all.
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;30544108]Let 'em roast.
Fuckers.
[/QUOTE]
You're so predictable it's just boring now.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.