Scrap NASA?

[lurkingdirk]

An interesting perspective from a former astronaut...

What do you guys think? Is NASA to political? Can it continue to effectively make the USA cutting-edge in Space Travel?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4317489...completely-apollo-astronaut-says/from/toolbar

NASA should be scrapped in favor of a new agency, one with the sole objective of furthering America's exploration of deep space. So says Harrison Schmitt, the last man to set foot on the moon, in a proposal published online Wednesday.

Schmitt, a member of Apollo 17 in 1972 and later a one-term U.S. senator, proposed that the new space agency be called the National Space Exploration Administration.

Fifty years after John F. Kennedy's famous speech that set America on its glorious path to the moon, Schmitt, 75, said NASA has lost its focus. The Apollo program helped win the Cold War, strengthened national unity and set up the United States to take control of lunar resources, but NASA has withered under later presidencies, including Barack Obama's, Schmitt said.

"I don't blame NASA as much as I blame various administrations for not recognizing the geopolitical importance of space," he told Space.com.

Schmitt's call for overhauling the space program is partly a response to Obama's 2012 budget, which critics say increased the funding for space technology research at NASA but did not provide adequate funding for deep-space exploration.

Other Apollo astronauts have lamented the lack of focus on exploration.

In a May 24 op-ed in USA Today, Apollo mission commanders Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan wrote, "After a half-century of remarkable progress, a coherent plan for maintaining America's leadership in space exploration is no longer apparent."

 

[Connor Macleod]

It would be ridiculously stupid to scrap NASA. It would cost tons of money and would destroy what has become an iconic symbol of American ingenuity. If there is a problem with NASA, then the smart thing to do would be to fire those in charge and replace them with individuals that would bring fresh ideas and a new focus. I'm not saying that is the case, but I will say this, it is downright idiotic that they are retiring the shuttle fleet without a replacement waiting in the wings.

 

[Will E Worm]

How are we going to go to Pluto and see the penguin colonies?

 

[Facetious]

I will say this, it is downright idiotic that they are retiring the shuttle fleet without a replacement waiting in the wings.

Great post, particularly this part. :hatsoff:


Like everything else in government, the baby boomer gen fucked it up.
No direction, no imagination, idle... let the developing nations pass u.s. up... and here we are today

 

[BlueBalls]

No, NASA does far too much good as a whole, in terms of the work it does and the new technologies, etc it invests in to be scrapped in order to focus solely on space exploration. The thing about manned space exploration (in particular) is that the process is incredibly dangerous, expensive, a logistical nightmare and for the most part, at least with today's technology, unnecessary. Probes and the various optic technologies we currently have at our disposal, which aren't dependant on difficult resources to maintain in bulk, can explore far wider areas than any manned mission with a relatively smaller cost when compared to the alternative and almost no danger to the individuals who work with it.

Of course, if there is the public demand for such acts, I'm sure allowing some level of corporate investment may alleviate some of the governments budget concerns.

 

[Jagger69]

It is unfathomable to me that we seem unwilling to pursue what is perhaps man's most natural instinct....the will to explore. It's the basic human trait that has powered the development of society and culture. I realize the money issue presents a problem but there has got to be a way to keep our exploration of space moving forward.

Gene Cernan, Houston resident and the last man to walk on the moon, put it very well:

“Curiosity is the essence of human existence and exploration has been part of humankind for a long time. The exploration of space, like the exploration of life, if you will, is a risk. We've got to be willing to take it.”

Would getting rid of NASA help? I don't know. I do know that it is a mistake if we don't continue to pursue our exploration of space.

 

[Atar554]

People are to busy worrying about gay marriage and if taxes are to high or to low.

 

[LukeEl]

Hmmm now is the time for me to take charge and create my own space program.

 

[Connor Macleod]

The thing about manned space exploration (in particular) is that the process is incredibly dangerous, expensive, a logistical nightmare and for the most part, at least with today's technology, unnecessary. Probes and the various optic technologies we currently have at our disposal, which aren't dependant on difficult resources to maintain in bulk, can explore far wider areas than any manned mission with a relatively smaller cost when compared to the alternative and almost no danger to the individuals who work with it.

Of course, if there is the public demand for such acts, I'm sure allowing some level of corporate investment may alleviate some of the governments budget concerns.

Manned missions are a must. I said this in another thread and I'll say it again; At some point, humanity will exhaust the resources of this planet and will have to venture beyond Earth. In order for whatever future generation must do this, the groundwork must be laid now. If we don't, we doom our species to extinction.

As for corporate investment, I doubt corporations would have any interest, because there is little if anything to gain. Corporations are about making money and such an endeavor won't help their bottom line.

 

[Jane Burgess]

Getting rid of NASA is not a good idea.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Poor Bill could never compare to Mr. Schmitt.

 

[busaguy79]

Scraping NASA will be the dumbest thing that this country can do and unfortunatly its something that could happen! We will soon no longer have the shuttle and then it will be the Russians sending our astronauts up, the FUCKING RUSSIANS!!!!! There have been talks and plans for decades to replace the Shuttle but NASA has fallen so far deep in goverment bs beauacracy that nothing will probably ever come to replace it. I just wish they continued devolping the Mars Rocket so at least we would have something!! Its just sad how far in the shit this country is becoming!!

 

[Neutron66]

While I love NASA and always will, the future of the space program is in the private sector.

Believe it or not, there are no laws against anyone building a spacecraft and launching it. The only thing you need to do is clear your flight plan with the FAA.

Government agencies will always have limits and unfortunately there's no longer any "space race" so the government has zero reason to pump billions into space exploration.

That's why I'm putting all my hopes into Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic. That, my friends is the future of the space program.

 

[Jagger69]

That's why I'm putting all my hopes into Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic. That, my friends is the future of the space program.

I truly appreciate your sentiments and don't necessarily disagree about the private enterprise aspect of space exploration (or should I say "exploitation"?) but leaving the future of space exploration up to people like Richard Branson is like leaving the future of the American presidency up to people like Donald Trump.

There's no way I want guys like Richard Branson as the spearpoint for us "daring to go where no man has gone before". Like it or not, the American government needs to be dedicated to this just like they are to the military. Mercenaries are fine as a supplement but we need to have governmental involvement in this effort in some fashion in order for it to work.

 

[Atar554]

The problem is people only cared about the space race when it was in fact a race.

Now I'm a huge space nerd and would love nothing but a hard push into exploration beyond our planet. There's no incentive for the average person however. The Government won't put it as a top priority if most of everyone is to busy watching Snooki be a whore.

We live in a world where people care about the Royal wedding more than the equipment we just launched into space that is designed to detect dark matter...matter that is invisible to the naked eye and makes up most of the universe...more than matter we actually see....

They'd rather see what dumb hats the English are wearing to a wedding of 2 strangers they'll never meet.

 

[Neutron66]

Like it or not, the American government needs to be dedicated to this just like they are to the military.

That's a nice fantasy. However, in the cold harsh world it's just not going to happen.

You can wait for years and hope the government will come around but in the meantime our population keeps growing exponentially and eventually we'll snuff ourselves out.

We've got to get off this fucking planet. And if Branson is the guy to lead the charge, so be it. Maybe others will follow his lead.

 

[Atar554]

That's a nice fantasy. However, in the cold harsh world it's just not going to happen.

You can wait for years and hope the government will come around but in the meantime our population keeps growing exponentially and eventually we'll snuff ourselves out.

We've got to get off this fucking planet. And if Branson is the guy to lead the charge, so be it. Maybe others will follow his lead.

We have a serious chance of staying and not snuffing ourselves out. If we could fix the pollution problem energy wouldn't be an issue. Then continue to improve food creation as we sort of have been; making food without wiping out species etc...

Only problem is a lot of technology from say terraforming a planet would help to do those things here. I fear anything Branson does will be nothing short of a glorified spacebus. A jumping off point that many won't be rich enough to go beyond.

Don't get me wrong I think we can still have the best of both worlds (pun intended) living perhaps on another planet and maintaining a beautiful Earth. We're just wasting a lot of time right now.

 

[Mr_Balls]

No, I like NASA.
We should build a moon colony.

 

[D-rock]

Space explorations and a large part of NASA's problem is that we have reached very significant diminishing returns for any benefit we gain. It's even more so when you take into account space exploration by people and manned missions. There is almost nothing that can be gained at the present time that can't be done cheaper, safer, and most of the time better by non manned means. Most of the significant scientific discoveries NASA has been involved with for a long time now have also been with unmanned projects.

While sending people off into the reaches of space might be interesting and seem awesome (which it is) that's all it is at this point. One has to come to the point where they realize we are just doing it for sentimental reasons anymore and little more and at great cost to ourselves. People might not like to face that fact, but that’s reality. Even in the past it was mainly done for the ego contest we had with other countries, especially against the old Soviet Union.

While people might not like it at some point rationality and objectivity has to come into the equation. At some point nostalgia and doing things because they are fun or interesting in of themselves has to be taken out of the equations, especially in our economic circumstances.

Until we get close to developing Star Trek like technology, or at the least highly advanced technology compared to what we have now, sending people off into space does nothing for us. (and in all probability the advancement of technology that will get us to that point probably mostly won't come from NASA either.)

Budgeting a reasonable amount and sending up some advanced telescopes, robots, and probes is alright, but spending huge amounts of money on manned exploration to sate some people interest for they think is fun or interesting for pretty much little actual benefit is just a colossal waste at this time.

 

[Xombie3000]

While I have read all of the posts here and they are all valid, remember last year when Obama made his speech concerning NASA?

A few weeks after killing the U.S.A.’s world-famous moon-mission program, President Obama has ordered the space agency that operates it to focus on reaching out to Muslim countries.

Indeed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) mission will shift from space exploration to Muslim diplomacy, as per the commander-in-chief’s orders. When Obama announced earlier this month that he would slash NASA’s $100 billion plan to return astronauts to the moon, he didn’t mention where some of the resources would be directed.

It's stuff like this that is really hurting NASA. We have to remember what NASA STANDS for: National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s. Politics will do nothing but hurt the program until other countries will look at us years from now and laugh.