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- greytfriend, on 06/11/2008, -3/+140Damn, first thing he's ever said that I could dig. I feel that space exploration and the research that goes with it is vital to our future. So does Stephen Hawking, so maybe it isn't just because I'm a romantic sci-fi fan.
http://current.com/items/89011597_q_a_with_stephen ... - sleepyjjk, on 06/11/2008, -11/+90Interesting, and after looking up some stuff, I have found that it is true that Obama is not as interested in space research and wants to redistribute money given to NASA to education. Now, as a scientifically minded person, I think that this is a bad decision and that it is important for us to explore space and learn more about the universe, as much as we can. Yes, it is true that NASA has not shown as any visible results recently, but this may be because the current Bush administration could care less what NASA does and keeps it there to keep some people happy.
Also, though I am for education, I do not think that taking funds from NASA is the way to do it. I think that redistributing other resources, such as the money for war and invest it into our education is important. This year, the University of California had to increase their tuition because of budget cuts in California. Now, as a student, I think that public education is extremely important, and these budget cuts are sad. Not only do students have to pay more, teachers and specialized classes have to be let go.
Which of the two do I find more important? Education or space research? I believe education is, of course, and after reading what McCain and Obama have to say about what they want to do, I can say that McCain will probably do nothing truly good to push our education forward. Obama lays out a pretty good plan as to what he would like to do on his website. However, I believe both issues, space exploration and education, are important. Hopefully, Obama changes his mind on what he wants to do with NASA, and wants to do more space exploration. However, I think it will be extremely hard to get to Mars, it is in a much different league than going to the moon. And the trip to Mars can only be done every few years, and the journey itself takes a few months.
As one scientist said (I forgot who), this research (such as having NASA explore space) is not going to help defend the country, but it will give the country something to defend.
Source: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/11/obama-p ... (note, what I found may be dated, and what Obama thinks about this issue may have changed, so please tell me if this is the case. This is one of the few relevant things I found when I looked this matter up) - ecrunner, on 06/11/2008, -1/+58Who doesn't want to see a man on Mars?
- acrodev, on 06/11/2008, -12/+67And that man is Barack Obama.
- Cyborg326, on 06/12/2008, -6/+59Wow for once I actually like his position more than Obama's.
- mark076h, on 06/11/2008, -7/+41Barack Obama
- 3tcp, on 06/11/2008, -4/+35People are starving? That's code for "I'm pulling this out of my ass".
What, you'd rather have the government given even more subsidies to farmers who are already making a fortune?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121141471637712559 ... - WriterSD, on 06/11/2008, -2/+30People often forget about the huge technological advances that come when we strive for things greater than what we have done - such as going to Mars. The leaps forward help all areas of life. It's when we stop dreaming and stop trying that we start to go stagnant and, eventually, will no longer be in a position to help others. (Btw, lofty goals like that also create more jobs. That will help starving people too!) :-)
- hexydes, on 06/12/2008, -3/+31Remember that when you go to vote. If you vote for Obama, then you had better not complain if he wins, and the space program falls even further behind.
Go ahead and bury me, but you can't deny the fact that McCain is on the record saying he wants to fund human presence on Mars, and Obama has said he has no interest in such things. - AwakeningAZ, on 06/12/2008, -1/+29Write this down. M...A...R...S.... Mars, bitches.
- Rabbittt, on 06/11/2008, -0/+26It is absolutely necessary that we get colonization going.. We can't have our entire human history and DNA in one spot, not with us being as bonkers as we are about stupid *****.. We must have colonies in order to secure the integrity of our species.. With the current paradigm and our rapid approach to nanotechnology, this has got to be a bigger deal to us than it has been in the past..
Modern day Noah's Ark, anyone? - angusm, on 06/11/2008, -0/+22NASA's Robert Zubrin has an interesting book called "The Case for Mars" in which he argues that a low-cost Mars mission is achievable (and, indeed, that it has a better chance of success than any of the grandiose schemes NASA typically dreams up).
Zubrin may be right, but - given McCain's advanced age - if he wants to see a man on Mars before he dies, then I think they'll need to start building his rocket today. Hell, if _I_ want to see a man on Mars before I die, they'll need to start building his rocket today. I'm a lot younger than McCain, but I'm not convinced that I'll see another manned landing on another planet during my lifetime. - BadAstronomer, on 06/11/2008, -1/+20Michiko280, that's a common thought, but it's a huge misconception. We have money enough to explore space AND fix things here on Earth. Read this: http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/04/14/what ...
- chrgrose, on 06/12/2008, -8/+24Probably the single only thing I like about McCain.
- 3tcp, on 06/11/2008, -0/+16I think the money spent by NASA can even be considered as education funding. You can get kids to learn by giving them the tools to learn and by giving them something to shoot for. A slight reduction in class size or another security guard won't improve student performance as much as it would if NASA was sending men to walk on Mars and research stations to fly around in the upper atmosphere of Venus.
- mllind, on 06/12/2008, -2/+18The argument that we have to fix the problems at home before going to space is bull. Society has had thousands of years to fix the problems on Earth. We are always going to have problems, and we can't use that as an excuse to let the once great symbol of American pride go to China. If NASA goes to Mars, that would be an enormous boost in domestic pride, foreign respect, and technological advancement, not to mention the generation that will strive to further invest in higher education to be a part of space exploration and beyond. As much as it pains me to say it, I gotta take McCain's side on this one, though I have hope that Obama's position on the issue can change.
- prophet000, on 06/12/2008, -0/+15I'm not gonna lie. I want to go to Mars. Really ***** bad.
- handsomehellvis, on 06/12/2008, -3/+17WOW i finally agree with mccain on something. i really wish we'd stop spending money on ***** wars and focus on something positive like space exploration. lord knows we're just about out of room on this planet......
- inactive, on 06/12/2008, -4/+17Nasa is the reason we have cell phones, and other things. So even if we don't always make it to a planet, the by-products of the research are invaluable to humans on Earth.
So come on Obama! If you insist on raising the capital gains tax, do this with it! - Synova, on 06/12/2008, -2/+15Yep, Obama still wants to delay the constellation program by 5 years to help pay for his education program. This is one of the few issues I'd side with McCain on. It certainly won't make me vote for him though.
- DeskFlyer, on 06/11/2008, -9/+22Obama never said he doesn't want to go to Mars, but he wants to delay the Constellation program for five years in order to fund early education for kids (which is something I strongly disagree with...there are a ton of other less important things to delay or scrap).
"Obama said he does not agree with the way the space program is now being run and thinks funding should be trimmed until the mission is clear.” (Baltimore Sun)
That's rather ambiguous, but I really hope he changes his mind because it will only get more expensive to explore space as time goes by. - curtisag, on 06/12/2008, -0/+13Clearly you don't understand the public's support for NASA is dearly needed. And for that support, the people want to see NASA doing extraordinary things, equivalent to putting a man on the moon in the 60's. Putting a man on mars will inspire a generation of children to study science and dream about space exploration.
- drlha, on 06/12/2008, -0/+11NASA hasn't shown any visible results recently? I hope you're just talking about manned spaceflight because who do you think was behind the Mars Rovers, Mars Phoenix, Swift and today's launch of GLAST exactly?
- mrsteveman1, on 06/12/2008, -0/+10Why, we'd be no better than france!
C'mon guys, we don't want to become the France of the 21st century. - inactive, on 06/12/2008, -0/+10As I believe it's been discussed time and time again - just throwing money at education doesn't seem to help it. Our educational system needs a reform, no doubt, but taking money from space exploration in order to do so would be ridiculous.
- Soniti, on 06/12/2008, -1/+10 "Yes, it is true that NASA has not shown as any visible results recently, but this may be because the current Bush administration could care less what NASA does and keeps it there to keep some people happy."
Um. Are you ***** me? You say the Bush administration doesn't care about NASA, even though this administration is responsible for them recieving the money for the Orion program? Let alone the massive amount of support Bush has shown NASA, almost on the level of JFK and the Apollo program.
Stop talking out of your ass. - DuffyDirect, on 06/12/2008, -4/+13send robots -- or better yet -- obamabots
- inactive, on 06/12/2008, -2/+11Obama doesn't, McCain has the right idea on this - space exploration and advances are important. We must not loose sight of the long term impacts of this. Obama needs to realize that his goals are just that goals, realistically most will not be met due to cost not to mention the many scientific programs that will never see light.
- hexydes, on 06/12/2008, -0/+9Not to mention there are only eight flights left in the STS program. At this point, a LOT of money has been put towards Constellation, which (unlike the STS program) will actually start saving money. Throwing all that away (which is basically what pushing it back "just for five years..." will do) is nothing but a giant waste of time, money, and energy.
- inactive, on 06/12/2008, -1/+10How much technology has come out of space exploration? I mean - not to play on a political stance here, but NASA and its sub-contractors have created lots of useful technology for us to utilize as a society. There are ways of balancing the budget without having to cut it out of NASA (which is, in my opinion, one of the most successful parts of our country).
- arunforce, on 06/12/2008, -0/+9McCain has lived to see a man on the moon. So he can relate.
Obama (I don't think) hasn't, so he's sadly misguided.
FUND NASA! - c0mputar, on 06/12/2008, -0/+8Excellent post, I agree completely. I read in a digg post long ago that the cost of NASA's program is 19billion or something? Compare that to the military and ineffective policies and you'll see how idiotic it is for the US to budget cut one of the more important things of the american identity and human advancements.
- diggit23, on 06/12/2008, -1/+9dugg for epic justice...and a link, too!
- sarge96, on 06/12/2008, -0/+8The goal of education, presumably, is to educate people in the sciences. The point of institutions like NASA is to give those newly educated scientists money and a goal. So if you dismantle NASA and like programs, what's the point of education?
Every time I start to hate John McCain, he changes my mind by doing something cool. This is gonna be a great presidential race. - RogerStrong, on 06/12/2008, -0/+8Send humans AND robots.
Even the people controlling the rovers say that after a certain point, humans are more cost effective than robots. The Apollo 17 astronauts did more in their first afternoon on the moon, and covered the same ground, as the rovers did in the first two years. - inactive, on 06/12/2008, -2/+10You're right, lets just abandon every aspect of our culture from the arts and music to science and research so we make enough money for every socialist proposal of Obama's. Priorities people, priorities.
- Sfenton, on 06/12/2008, -3/+10Looking at these comments I can tell how poorly informed these people are and how easily they can be manipulated.
- acrodev, on 06/11/2008, -3/+10Yeah, just think where we'd be without Tang and Velcro.
- RogerStrong, on 06/12/2008, -1/+8In effect, he very much HAS said NO.
His stated plan is to "delay" Ares/Constellation for five years and redirect NASA funding to education. But such a "delay" kills the program.
Ares/Constellation is designed not just to adapt a lot of existing hardware, but more importantly, to tap into the existing skills of existing workers. The people building the Shuttle external tanks will make the Shuttle-derived tanks for the Ares boosters. The people making the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) will make the redesigned boosters for Ares. The standing army of Shuttle technicians, ground crew and controllers will carry on with Ares and Constellation.
A five year "delay" means laying these people off. In five years, they'll have moved on. You'll be training a whole new staff. You'll have lost a lot of knowledge and exprience. Your savings disappear.
Stopping such lay-offs is a big part of why NASA gets what little funding it does. With all those people ALREADY laid off, don't hold your breath for funding to resume after the five years. - dullnation, on 06/12/2008, -0/+7But I'm le tired.
- Cyborg326, on 06/12/2008, -3/+9well once we stop sinking our money into Iraq then we can do both.
- ManIs5, on 06/12/2008, -2/+8My understanding is that Obama wants to put more dollars into alternative energy research and less into NASA. As much as I value NASA and everything a manned Mars mission could teach us, I think given budget realities and our obvious need to get off the oil tit, alternative energy research would be a better current use of available dollars. Basically everything we're doing as a country is now put on a credit card, so we need to heavily prioritize. Alternative energy isn't optional. A trip to Mars is.
- BadAstronomer, on 06/11/2008, -20/+26I wrote about this as well on my blog (http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/06/10/mcca ... While I am a supporter of manned spaceflight, I think aiming for Mars exclusively right now is a mistake.
- hexydes, on 06/12/2008, -0/+6Unlike Obama, who just flat out says he'll divert money from NASA...
- chispito, on 06/12/2008, -0/+6Don't try to rationalize it.
It will take decades to see the project come to fruition and if you think the economy is really that bad right now, I can guarantee you regardless of who is elected the next three Presidents, things will seem better and they will seem worse before we can get to Mars.
Me, I just want us to get there as soon as possible so we can move on to even loftier goals. - AWBoy666, on 06/12/2008, -1/+7Do you have any idea of the technologies that came out of developing for our trips to the moon? Materials development and computer technology alone made the expense worthwhile.
It isn't so much the actual science that we would gather on the actual planet, but the technologies that would be built off of it. - coolcash2005, on 06/12/2008, -1/+6I would rather have mankind go boldly where no one has gone before rather than incessantly hear the same ***** about a purposeless war. Not everything that McCain believes must be shot down with criticism.
- MisterNetHead, on 06/12/2008, -0/+5Enlighten us, oh wise one.
- Alegoo92, on 06/12/2008, -3/+8That was definitely clever and funny.
- ManIs5, on 06/12/2008, -0/+5Oh yeah -- there are certainly a lot of other things I'd cut before NASA.
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