Posted on 05/15/2011 10:11:37 PM PDT by smokingfrog
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Representative Gabrielle Giffords arrived in Florida for the this morning’s planned launch of the space shuttle Endeavour that will be commanded by her husband, Mark Kelly.
A posting on the congresswoman’s Facebook page said she flew in on a NASA jet yesterday afternoon and got a quick fly-by of Endeavour at the pad. The Democrat from Arizona arrived with the family of Endeavour pilot Gregory Johnson.
The shuttle was being fueled last night, and the weather looks good for Endeavour’s 8:56 a.m. launch. An April launch try was delayed because of electrical problems.
Giffords suffered a head wound in a mass shooting in January but is making a remarkable recovery. Doctors have cleared her to travel to see the launch.
NASA was so ready to get the flight off the ground that it moved the protective scaffolding around the shuttle 15 minutes earlier than planned.
There was only a 30 percent chance of a weather delay, mostly because of crosswinds.
The conditions were far different from last month’s futile launch attempt. The protective cover wasn’t removed for five hours because of storms, and the launch was scrubbed because of an electrical problem.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
“He talked about America fading, backing off from exploration is one of the reasons why.”
That may be his opinion, but we are fading because we are socially and economically imploding. I’m not seeing the connection between space exploration and protecting the border, getting our fiscal house in order, giving businesses an incentive not to flee, and keeping the government out of the health care industry.
Right now, yes, space mission funding is approximately $7B per year, but costs will rise exponentially with a Mars mission or some other similar endeavor. Factor in typical government cost overruns, we’ll be well into the trillions... trillions we don’t have.
It’s great to wistfully recall that glorious past when our possibilities were endless, but we’re now in an era in which even our continued existence as a nation beyond the next 20 years is at serious risk.
America, by electing the likes of Barack Obama and the cabal of marxists who infest the U.S. and state Congresses, made the decision to pull the plug on Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill.” These days, bogged down by three wars, a porous border, collapsing and crime-ridden cities and a $14.5T debt, we can’t even afford to flip on the porch light.
Until America gets its fiscal situation under control, we’re better off not searching out black holes... cosmic OR financial.
You couldn’t be more wrong, these are the things worth doing even in challenging times, if we shirk and postpone these kinds of endeavors, there will be a terrible price to pay in the future, we will lose our lead, we will not inspire, we will be that dog looking at the lead dogs ass wondering how that happened. IF were even in the race at all.
China is very dedicated to it’s space plans, long term as they are.
Again, it’s chump change, we could triple it and it would still be chump change.
The only logical target for to stop our fiscal suicide is entitlements. There is nothing even close to that.
NASA is nothiing to be pointing blame at.
It’s an enabler for our nation, a catalyst, an inspirer.
We need that or we will lose our way forever.
These aren't "challenging" times... we're in the "dire times" zone now... we just hit the debt ceiling... there's no money. Nada.
To go to any lengths beyond the ISS will require far more than "chump change," unless you consider estimates of upwards of 1$T "chump change."
No one is pointing blame at NASA... my point is.. given the current multiple priorities this country faces, space exploration is something that deserves an honored spot on the back burner.
We need that or we will lose our way forever.
A case could be made that we've already lost our way. Whether it's "forever" depends on how we attack the more pressing problems we face.
I watched with pride in July 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. It was truly a great step forward... but we aren't the same nation anymore. Pursuing deeper space adventures now would be akin to re-roofing a house with the finest architectural shingles on the market, while ignoring the termites busily devouring the studwork into dust and the elements turning the foundation to gravel.
In the future, perhaps an enhanced space program could be pursued by private interests... but as for our tax dollars being poured into it.. no thanks.
Well.
GLad they didnt wait until Europe solved their problems to establish Jamestown.
Your view is incredibly myopic and short sighted.
Again, for some reason it’s not registering.
It’s chump change in the big picture.
We can afford to defend this nation with hundreds of billions.
We can afford a tiny portion of that to assure we have a future worth defending.
Your battle is with entitlements. Again, you could remove NASA utterly, and nothing would change.
That’s fact, I can’t change them. It’s simple do the math....
www.federalbudget.com
Instead, the Spaniards established St. Augustine in 1565.
Look, we're going to have simply agree to disagree on this. Your position is to shoot for the stars now because it'll make us feel great about ourselves, while mine is to tend to issues that present an existential threat to America.
And it doesn't matter what anyone says about entitlements, because the best we're ever going to do there is trim around the edges. Americans are great about wanting to take a meataxe to the federal budget... that is, until THEIR piece of the pie is trimmed.
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