Posted on 07/29/2014 9:04:09 AM PDT by pabianice
Means-tested welfare payments have reached one trillion dollars annually, per the National Review. That got me making a calculation. In 2014 dollars, the entire Apollo Moon Project, from 1963 - 1969, cost $119.1 billion. That means that the entire Moon Program up to the Apollo 11 landing cost as much as 70 days of welfare payments, or, from January 1 until the second week of March, 2014.
Everytime I see Michael Collins I feel sorry for him for some reasons, he was the “thrid wheel” of apollo 11 when it came to getty any of the glory.
He probably doesn’t see it that way, but I can imagine it like being the minivan driver for a family who went to disney land and stayed in the parking lot...
Of course if someone were "just" to orbit the moon today it would be a big deal. Wonder who will do it next. Chinese? Private company?
As a side note concerning federal government spending programs, consider that the states have never amended the Constitution to grant the feds the specific powers to tax and spend for either welfare or space exploration purposes.
Sounds like something Richard Gordon of Apollo 12 may have said. I’ve heard him say something similar on the DVD of “For All Mankind”. The CMP also had the unenviable role of possibly leaving the CDR and LMP on the moon and coming home alone. Now THAT would have been a real downer.
Then I’d say we’d be better off going after the non-productive big-ticket boondoggles like welfare and giveaways for no work than the chump-change, productive programs.
If we can spend all this money on social justice why can’t we put a man on the moon?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.