It is not the government role to be involved in space. Nowhere does the constitution call for this and don’t give the crap of national security. That is insane. This totally should be funded by private companies and get it out of the business. Government should not give a penny to NASA. Oh and your other items you wrote, they should not get a dime either.
“It is not the government role to be involved in space.”
It’s no different than the Lewis and Clark expeditions, the Red River expedition, or the Pike expedition. Eventually it will transition to a system more akin to building and maintaining the interstate highway system. It is vital to national security as well. If you think you can just hand space dominance over to the Russians and Chinese without serious consequences for our national security, you’re living in a Ron Paul-esque land of isolationism that simply doesn’t exist. Furthermore, unless we continue to explore space and develop a better understanding of the cycles of stars and the influence of space weather on the planets, we will be completely vulnerable when the next Carrington event happens (to say nothing of other potential sources of astronomical disaster including comets, asteroids, nearby supernovae, etc). Our entire technological civilization is at the mercy of threats from other nations as well as mother nature herself. Therefore, under Article 1 Section 8 of the US consitution, NASA is vital for the common defense and welfare of the United States.
Opps, I missed your reply.
You really don’t have an idea about how space does play into National security. To assume it doesn’t is absolutely idiotic. The satellites informing us of what is going on in other countries like China and Iran is proof of that.
The Constitution doesn’t call for a lot of the things that our country currently has. Some are stupid, but many are not. NASA is part of our country’s pride. The rewards of the space program are numerous. It is one of the only programs to actually give back more into the economy than it takes.
The only way that these “private companies” are doing anything is the big kickbacks they’ve been given from the Obama administration. Do you prefer that over the funding of NASA?