[pnh102]

I watched the rebroadcast of the Moon landing and it just got me angry that not only was this literally the high water mark of the US space program but also that the US simply isn't producing the kind of engineering talent needed to pull this off anymore.

Of course, there are tons of business and psychology majors.

[Clioman]

Don’t forget the sociologists, grief counselors, womens studies specialists, class-race-and-gender researchers, and community activists.

[Alberta's Child]

I udnerstand your frustration, but I disagree with your general premise. I think what has happened in the last 40 years is that the U.S. space program has moved away from "exploration for the sake of exploration" to a program that is focused on space activities with some strong commercial possibilities. Hence, the focus over the last couple of decades has been on "near-earth" initiatives like the space station, satellite communications, earth imaging from orbit, global positioning systems, etc.

It's hard to argue with this approach. I mean, space exploration DOES have to "pay off" at some point.

[cripplecreek]

The ISS should be renamed the ASS. (Astronaut storage station) I realize it has some value but I’ve long since begun to doubt that it needs to be as large and expensive as it is.

If we had stayed on track with our previous ambitions, the money wasted on the space station could have gone toward a permanent station on the moon. It wouldn’t need to be boosted into a higher orbit every few years by an expensive mission. Instead or wasting valuable space carrying garbage back to earth it could stay on the moon

[Kozak]

Whats worse is that in a year or two we won’t be able to get an astronaut in space period, without begging a ride from the Russians or the Chinese. Disgraceful.

[indthkr]

"Of course, there are tons of business and psychology majors"

LOL!

We'll leave all that engineering and risk taking stuff to India and China. Once they start building colonies , the USA contribution will be providing Public Policy guidelines for colonists (Taxes, Entitlements and Extraterrestrial Torts), and of course support for space-based community organizers.

[Tallguy]

Not only that, the Aviation-sector of the economy is much smaller in absolute terms than it was in 1960. NASA was initially a technology clearing house that orchestrated the activities of aerospace companies like Vought, Grumman, North American, Boeing, Douglass, McDonnell, etc. How many of those names are around today? How many have merged in order to stay alive? What are the total employment figures?

It used to be that NASA could solicit ideas from these companies. Now NASA pretty much issues the specifications. There's a lot less imagination in the latter process.

[GladesGuru]

“Of course, there are tons of business and psychology majors.”

Far more disturbing to me are all the “criminal justice” majors being produced. Apparatchiks in a developing police state, for the most part.