Obama: "I am 100 percent committed to NASA and its future." - Polidicks

Maybe we should [i]merge[/i] NASA and DARPA?

-snip, broke automerg

[QUOTE=evilweazel;37590178]Maybe I worded my post wrong. What I'm trying to say is that I'm all for it, I can see what it would achieve. But for the people out there who have such a fucked up life when they're trying to raise kids, pay for a house, bills, all that fun stuff, you won't get them behind trying to go to space for whatever reason. Most people don't see the benefits of it, and it's not hard at all to understand why. I just think the world we're on right now needs a bit of fixing before we try to go anywhere, if just for the sake of getting people to want to go into space.[/QUOTE] People are refusing to see the practical application of technologies that come with space exploration. innovations that came around primarily due to NASA research and funding have benefited humanity extraordinarily. Why should they be punished because people don't understand the value of their work? [editline]8th September 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Gekkosan;37590179]Uh, there's no stopping us. We can live in the North pole, and in the equator-area where it's warmer. Basically anywhere on Earth. And there's so many of us. That's why I believe our species will keep on living for generations on end.[/QUOTE] And when we exhaust all the resources on earth due to outdated technology and overpopulation and go extinct, the last people left on the planet will die wondering why we imprisoned ourselves within our own tomb of a planet.

A continued survival of humanity requires expansion into space, if not for scientific reasons alone, then for the simply fact that the resources on Earth a [i]finite[/i]

[QUOTE=Bentham;37590196]People are refusing to see the practical application of technologies that come with space exploration. innovations that came around primarily due to NASA research and funding have benefited humanity extraordinarily. Why should they be punished because people don't understand the value of their work?[/QUOTE] They shouldn't be punished, I agree, but that really doesn't matter. I personally think no one will understand the value of their work until shit it sorted out here a little bit to the point where they can be educated as to why it is important that we get out to space and so they don't see it as "pointless billion dollar rockets." On a little note, I used the same little "New World" argument as you did against my English teacher when she was arguing with me about why going to space is pointless :v:

-merge broken

[QUOTE=evilweazel;37590226]They shouldn't be punished, I agree, but that really doesn't matter. I personally think no one will understand the value of their work until shit it sorted out here a little bit to the point where they can be educated as to why it is important that we get out to space and so they don't see it as "pointless billion dollar rockets."[/QUOTE] And with them getting proper funding, people will be more inspired to study math, engineering and such with the goal of joining their ranks. How many astronauts and engineers do they have now, who have been a part of these amazing innovations, because when they were a kid they watched the moon landing and knew right then and there that they wanted to do that?

[QUOTE=evilweazel;37590226]They shouldn't be punished, I agree, but that really doesn't matter. I personally think no one will understand the value of their work until shit it sorted out here a little bit to the point where they can be educated as to why it is important that we get out to space and so they don't see it as "pointless billion dollar rockets."[/QUOTE] Well, the US of A seemingly has a strong anti-intellectualistic mindset, it would take decades to change that

[QUOTE=Bentham;37590239]And with them getting proper funding, people will be more inspired to study math, engineering and such with the goal of joining their ranks. How many astronauts and engineers do they have now, who have been a part of these amazing innovations, because when they were a kid they watched the moon landing and knew right then and there that they wanted to do that?[/QUOTE] You're not going to get very many people wanting NASA to be funded properly for once until you get things sorted out here, though. Most people, not all mind you, but most people will see it as another tax on top of most of the shit they already have to pay for, not as an investment towards something huge for us. I'm sure once the economy isn't in shambles people wouldn't mind going to space if they were shown the benefits.

Show them the long term benefits now, promote a pro-scientific mindset in schools, and show them the importance of space exploration for humanity as a whole, and I'm sure they'd understand.

[QUOTE=evilweazel;37590287]You're not going to get very many people wanting NASA to be funded properly for once until you get things sorted out here, though. Most people, not all mind you, but most people will see it as another tax on top of most of the shit they already have to pay for, not as an investment towards something huge for us. I'm sure once the economy isn't in shambles people wouldn't mind going to space if they were shown the benefits.[/QUOTE] Then we explain that there is no additional taxation, it's a redirection of already existing government funds towards a much more productive end. If anything, it'll instill some confidence in people if they can actually be reassured and told where their money is going, rather than a blanket statement full of vague answers. Not to mention our overly inflated military budget, there's plenty that could be easily cut out of it without causing harm to government employees or programs under that umbrella, and sliding it not only into NASA, but other programs as well, especially social ones.

I remember a couple years ago when Obama slashed NASA's budget. Nice to see he'll let it slowly return to it's levels from before he was President.

[QUOTE=evilweazel;37590226]They shouldn't be punished, I agree, but that really doesn't matter. I personally think no one will understand the value of their work until shit it sorted out here a little bit to the point where they can be educated as to why it is important that we get out to space and so they don't see it as "pointless billion dollar rockets." On a little note, I used the same little "New World" argument as you did against my English teacher when she was arguing with me about why going to space is pointless :v:[/QUOTE] Shit will get sorted out by going to space. One of our biggest long term problems is the number of engineers and scientists, which are incredibly important to developed nations. How do you attract people to pursue science? You create a culture that rewards and nurtures science. What kid says "When I grow up I want to design a new elevator for a plane that increases efficiency by 1%!"? Nobody says that. What kid says "When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut and go to the Moon/Mars!"? A whole ton more. By increasing space exploration and scientific pursuits, you help keep science at the forefront of culture. That relevance and visibility attracts future scientists. It ignites and nurtures passion. These are things that economies and societies flourish on.

[QUOTE=Bentham;37590320]Then we explain that there is no additional taxation, it's a redirection of already existing government funds towards a much more productive end. If anything, it'll instill some confidence in people if they can actually be reassured and told where their money is going, rather than a blanket statement full of vague answers. Not to mention our overly inflated military budget, there's plenty that could be easily cut out of it without causing harm to government employees or programs under that umbrella, [B]and sliding it not only into NASA, but other programs as well, especially social ones.[/B][/QUOTE] Well yeah, thats exactly what the problems I've been talking about are. Healthcare, infrastructure, education, shit like that. That's what needs to be fixed first before people will want to shoot off to mars. The only problem is there are a few other problems to deal with before people won't see cutting back on the military budget as a bad thing, from what I've seen.

[QUOTE=evilweazel;37590287]You're not going to get very many people wanting NASA to be funded properly for once until you get things sorted out here, though. Most people, not all mind you, but most people will see it as another tax on top of most of the shit they already have to pay for, not as an investment towards something huge for us. I'm sure once the economy isn't in shambles people wouldn't mind going to space if they were shown the benefits.[/QUOTE] What problems are inherently stopping the ability to go to space? You bring this up over and over but the Earth isn't in shambles and space is a solution to our money issues

[QUOTE=Ridge;37590322]I remember a couple years ago when Obama slashed NASA's budget. Nice to see he'll let it slowly return to it's levels from before he was President.[/QUOTE] I know right, it's so much lower than when he took office: [img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2668640/obm.jpg[/img]

obama's starting to sound more and more like a politician these days

[QUOTE=Bobie;37587965][img]http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chtt=NASA%20budget%20Vs.%20Military%20budget&chs=740x275&chco=0e3bef,ff0f0f&chd=t:1.8,98.2&cht=p3&chl=2010%20NASA%20budget|2010%20Military%20budget[/img] lol gg[/QUOTE] well if we're having space wars we'll need to combine them thus resulting in more nasa budget

[QUOTE=DesolateGrun;37590123]the point is Earth isn't going to last forever, people won't last forever, UNLESS we leave Earth study space so in the future we can be a space fairing species, It sounds science fiction to you but its not. Combined with the resources that are everywhere in space, knowledge of the universe, and just letting the explorer within us explore.[/QUOTE] You are still forgetting the biggest challenge; the distances. Not even the natural forces like a star's explosion can thrust objects into such speeds that space travel would be worth the while. Sounds like fiction to you but it's not.

[QUOTE=Gekkosan;37590612]You are still forgetting the biggest challenge; the distances. Not even the natural forces like a star's explosion can thrust objects into such speeds that space travel would be worth the while. Sounds like fiction to you but it's not.[/QUOTE] What do you mean? It's a few months to several years to travel to most of the inner solar system, unless you're talking about going to other stars, that's a long way off, but it's not exactly going to become a possibility any faster if we decide space exploration is pointless.

What I mean is that it takes about [b]3,800[/b] years for the fastest unmanned aircraft to travel one light year and back. And one light year is literally nothing when compared to the whole vastness of Space.

[QUOTE=ballads;37589810]didn't he halt all shuttle launches?[/QUOTE] No. The shuttle's service was actually extended a few times into 2011, 15 years longer than it was originally going to be used for

Not to mention that no object with a rest mass can achieve the speed of light. shit my automerg

[QUOTE=Cabbage;37587770]I'm not hugely knowledgeable about the subject, but in my opinion putting a man on the moon again would be kind of a waste, what have we got to learn from the moon that we didn't cover back in '69? Back then there was huge pressure to do so ('Space Race' etc.) but now there isn't really a reason for going back there. Instead, we should put our efforts into getting a man on Mars, as you say.[/QUOTE] The moon presents many opportunities. If we set up a moon base, not only does that give us an area to do the basic studies of low and micro gravity (like the ISS is doing), and obviously seeing if we can make use of moon dust, but if it advances enough, we may be able to construct and launch space craft from there. It'll be much easier to get a man on mars if we can launch big payloads from the low gravity of the moon. We could also construct telescopes, which would be useful due to the lack of atmosphere blocking the view of space. It's far more than just "oh we have people on the moon, that's cool"; although even if it was just for that, that is still quite a positive, since it helps get people excited about space, which leads to greatness.

[QUOTE=Gekkosan;37590727]What I mean is that it takes about [b]3,800[/b] years for the fastest unmanned aircraft to travel one light year and back. And one light year is literally nothing when compared to the whole vastness of Space.[/QUOTE] Ok, But no one here's talking about interstellar manned missions, that's generally accepted to be a "long term" goal.

Long Term might be understating it a bit. If we launched to Alpha Centauri in the year 1800 BC, we'd only be 1/4 the way there now, and that's going by Voyager's speeds

[QUOTE=Gekkosan;37590727]What I mean is that it takes about [b]3,800[/b] years for the fastest unmanned aircraft to travel one light year and back. And one light year is literally nothing when compared to the whole vastness of Space.[/QUOTE] Are you saying the minute we get out into space we IMMEDIATELY must explore all galaxies and solar systems, and not just this one? Dude, imagine planets as big balls of fucking money just WAITING to be lived on and mined.

[QUOTE=ntzu;37590828]Are you saying the minute we get out into space we IMMEDIATELY must explore all galaxies and solar systems, and not just this one? Dude, imagine planets as big balls of fucking money just WAITING to be lived on and mined.[/QUOTE] They are still too far away. No amount of practice, rustling and wreching of a space shuttle is going to change that. And by "big balls of money" you mean the planet of other species. Way to bring capitalism onto other innocent species too. Or maybe they think the same way too, the aliens.

That's not what we're talking about at all, we're talking about colonising our own inner solar system, Mars, the moon, asteroids, orbital stations, shit like that, not Mass Effect.

[QUOTE=Gekkosan;37590851]They are still too far away. No amount of practice, rustling and wreching of a space shuttle is going to change that. And by "big balls of money" you mean the planet of other species. Way to bring capitalism onto other innocent species too. Or maybe they think the same way too, the aliens.[/QUOTE] Mining asteroids and other planets in our solar system, what does that have to do with other species? Asteroids aren't far away either, and neither, for that matter, are the other planets in our solar system.