People...BIG PICTURE for a moment....

We are entering an age of wonderous and HISTORIC scientific discovery. Rovers on Mars, snapping pictures of an alien landscape, discovering WATER (one of the necessary building blocks for life as we know it)....Cassini orbiting Saturn and an opportunity to land a rover on an alien moon...probes capturing material from comets and the solar wind....this is the stuff that expands our knowledge of the Universe and helps to define our place in it.

I am not saying that feeding the hungry isn't important. It's damn important. However, it is a flawed argument that suggests a choice between feeding hungry people and expanding mankind's knowledge. We cannot and must not foresake one for the other.

This is why I was buoyed by the President's proposal for the future exploration of space. Are they lofty goals? Absolutely. Can we pay for it? Sure. Should we pay for it? Not sure. But I do know that if you reach for stars but only get to the moon, you've still gone a long way.

President Kennedy was right to dream big...we should do the same.


rabbit

The launch of Aura has been delayed for a second time. A problem with a solid-state recorder aboard the satellite stopped the countdown 30 minutes before lift-off yesterday. A launch on Sunday was delayed due to a problem with the rocket nosecone.

NASA said it will be either a 24 or 48 hour hold.

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Eudaimonia

Liftoff was at 6 AM EDT. A problem with the rocket's battery system stopped the countdown three minutes before lift-off on Wednesday.

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Eudaimonia

Cassini has made the first direct observation of lightning in Saturn’s atmosphere.

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Eudaimonia

Maybe I'm not thinking right, but that would be a full moon every night! How romantic! Anyone know a good realtor on Saturn?

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one for all, and all for me!

Sir Richard Branson, CEO of the Virgin Atlantic airline, has just announced an agreement with Mojave Aerospace Ventures to take the rich - those who can afford a $180,000 – into space. It seems a bit early to me for Space tourism to take off. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.

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Eudaimonia

SpaceShipOne is scheduled to take off at 0600 Pacific Time for the first of the two flights required to win the $10m Ansari X-Prize. The second flight must take place within 14 days.

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Eudaimonia

SpaceShipOne has successfully completed the first of two qualifying flights into space! There was no report of any passengers, so I presume it carried ballast instead. In order to win the $10 million prize, it must make a second successful trip within the next 14 days.

The SpaceShipOne team does not have a lot of wiggle room. A Canadian team is scheduled to try on October 2nd.

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Eudaimonia

So since we can't decide what we should do we send the money into space... ohhhhh I see.

Teddy Bear,

Well, that is one way of looking at it. It is also true that almost all of the money spent on the project remains here on Earth. All the jobs which are generated throughout the economy by this mission – and all NASA missions – remain firmly on the ground. Everyone from the most humble groundskeeper who maintains the launch site facilities, through the mechanics to the engineers, and ending in the Mission managers, all remain on Earth, and spend their salaries on the same types of things you an I do.

The only bits of the mission which are gone forever are the launch vehicle and the probe itself.

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Eudaimonia

Thats a unique view.

But aside from creating a few jobs what do we gain thats of any use from space exploration?

Velcro

WD-40


let me think on that some more

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If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
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TeddyBear

Alot of the remote and micro-integrated medical sensors we now rely

on during operations were developed for space.

Micro-gravity promises medicines of unparalleled purity, crystal growth

for electronics impossible in our gravity well and fun for hundreds

of generations of kids.

PantyFanatic,

War will continue as long as two idiots want to kill each other.

All we can do is try to keep them from taking us with them.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Gentlefolk,

I hope that you are just pulling my leg, but on the off chance that you are unaware of some of the benefits of space exploration, I shall list a few.

Scratch-resistant lenses for eyeglasses are a spinoff product from something developed to protect satellites from getting nicked by space debris. Nitinol is a medical alloy which makes wearing dental braces easier. Nitinol was developed to enable satellites to “open up” more easily when deployed from the cramped confines of a launch vehicle.

Back in the 60’s Project Mercury technicians invented an automatic blood pressure measuring device. You can use the consumer edition of that device in many pharmacies for an instant check-up. Heart pacemakers communicate through electronic telemetry similar to that developed to operate satellites orbiting the earth. The implantable insulin pump that helps keep diabetics alive borrows technology from the mechanical robot arm on the first Mars Voyager probe. There’s a miniature blood pump which has been approved for use in humans. This heart pump uses technology from Space Shuttle fuel pumps.

Another spinoff from the space program comes from the HST’s Charge Coupled Device (CCD) chips. The CCD chips enable imaging that can discern between a malignant or benign tumor without the need for a biopsy. The cost for this procedure is hundreds of dollars versus thousands for a biopsy. Multiply that by the half million women each year who have one, and you are talking real money. There is also the personal avoidance of surgery with the attendant risk and scarring.

In the sphere of Earth sciences, remote-sensing technology implemented in satellites has been very valuable in areas such as disaster preparedness and mitigation, ocean health monitoring, weather prediction, forest and agricultural management and land use planning. Focusing on weather prediction alone, the American economy saves millions of dollars every year form the improved predictions provided by satellites operating in space.

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Eudaimonia

I humbly bow in the presence of those with great knowledge. I seriously had no clue. I'll ease up a little bit on my negative outlook regarding the space program. But I'd still like to see more money spent at home on some of the things mentioned earlier. TY for explaining to the fluff brain bear.



And jseal, if I was pulling your leg you'd know it sweetie.