Hmm... what do you guys think of this?

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iheartspacecamp
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Hmm... what do you guys think of this?

Post by iheartspacecamp »

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gt0163c
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Post by gt0163c »

I think that Obama is correct when he says (from the article):
"We're not going to have the engineers and the scientists to continue space exploration if we don't have kids who are able to read, write and compute,"

However, if we're not doing space exploration (which is a tiny, tiny percentage of the total US budget), some kids are going to have less and less interest in becoming scientists and engineers (I credit at least 50% of my decision to study engineering to my interest in the space program as a kid. And now I help design the next generation of military fighters.)
Additionally, the delay of the Constellation program for that amount of time would do more than just delay us getting back to the moon for five years. The problem is that, even with the "maintenance budget", there probably wouldn't be enough money to keep the team together over those five years. And, what good engineer's going to want to sit around for five years doing scheduling and budget stuff (the standard fill-in jobs while you're waiting for more money so you can hire more people so you can actually, ya know, get on with the job) for five years? When the time finally comes to ramp up to a fully funded program, there's going to be a major lag while the right people are hired, trained and everyone comes up to speed....again, if the right people can be found.

Obama's policy also overlooks what just about everyone else's policies that cut funding to the space program overlook: the benefit of spinoffs. Look at your digital watch, laptop computer, cell phone, fleece jacket, nylon running shorts and about twelve-bluezillion other items that you use every day. Almost all of them are able to trace their origins back to various innovations developed for and by the space program. If I remember correctly, the number that I've heard is that for every $1 spent by the space program, $3 has been returned into the US economy based on various innovations and spin-offs. If I could get a 3-to1 investment on my money, well, let's just say I probably wouldn't be designing the next generation of military fighters for much longer.

Yeah, the space program funding looks like great, low hanging fruit that's easy to pluck off and give to someone else. But, in reality, doing so is jeopardizing the future of our country. There's got to be other places in the federal budget where money can be saved so that various other important programs can be funded (just don't cut the defense department's budget too much more. Gotta be able to pay for that next generation of fighters. :) )
Level I Aug '89-Rockwell
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