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Posted by tourdemars to Budget at April 6, 2004 03:31 PM
In the 1983 movie, "The Right Stuff," astronaut Gordo Cooper points toward a space capsule and asks a NASA scientist, "Do you know what makes this bird go up?" Cooper answers his own question: "Funding makes this bird go up!" At which point, astronaut Gus Grissom chimes in: "No bucks? No 'Buck Rogers!'" That alleged conversation took place more than four decades ago, during the height of the space race with the Soviet Union. Today, the same refrain applies. Without funding from Congress, no U.S. spaceship will blast off for anywhere.TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.marsnews.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/399
Well let me know when their wallets thaw out so that we may see if they have the bucks for the vision. Or are they just pulling out a change purse instead. I got a feeling that until the commission report is published, fully read and understood that probably nothing is going to happen.
Posted by: Harold LaValley at April 7, 2004 04:53 AM
Our government recently approved an additional 1 billion dollars for new drone aircraft research and development. There was no Presidential call to action, no far reaching support from the education and space science community. Its obvious to me how NASA needs to go about getting funding, they need to tell the Pentagon that Iraqis plan to launch terrorist attacks from Mars and that we need to secure our pressence there in the intrest of national security. I do support our troops and Im not some left-wing fanatic that would eliminate our military, but its time to apply some accountability to the Pentagon. Vietnam brought an end to the Apollo program and now a war in desert over oil is going to finish the job of eliminating NASA. We quickly approaching the 1 trillion dollar mark in yearly military spending to fight wars in areas the size of small states. That money could have put permanent bases on the Moon, Mars, Europa and dozens of other places. The entire solar system could be US territory. It really puts things into perspective f you ask me.
Posted by: zach at April 7, 2004 05:55 AM
Words from the sister site discusion on this.
My wish is that someone comes up with a new homestead act, like the one they did back in the 1800's. Give us the tools and the way, we'll tame the frontier.
Posted by Sammy Davis at April 6, 2004 10:04 AM
It most likely would have to come from the UN since most nations feel that they can not own the moon or other such property. Also with freeing up that gate as you will. You will then need a new style of property rights and clearing house to keep others from making or staking false claims to rights that are not theirs. The 1800's of old had other provisions that also made it harder in that you must live and utilize the property for a specific length of time before claim was completely validated as good.
Posted by Harold LaValley at April 6, 2004 11:33 AM
All easily done, relatively speaking. Hardship helps ingenuity. If we wait to perfect a system to live either on the moon, mars or an asteroid, we wait to long. We become over reliant on technology and technology will, at some point, fail. Give me access to any of these places, a power supply, air to breath, food to eat and a shovel and I will make a home. (figuratively speaking)
Posted by Sammy Davis at April 6, 2004 12:20 PM
Posted by: Harold LaValley at April 7, 2004 06:06 AM