[saminfl]

One thing I'll never understand is when I come across conservatives who advocate limited government and despise the notion of one-world government, yet are so gung-ho about a space program that requires massive government expenditures and now involves foreign nationals flying on missions with U.S. military personnel.

You remind me of the "grumpy old man" who would sit at his condo window and watch to make sure the other residents don't disobey the rules. Do you have many friends?

[Alberta's Child]

LOL -- point taken.

I've been a critic of the shuttle program for a long time, not because of the "big government" or "world government" aspects of it but because it is terribly costly no matter how you look at it.

Understand that much of the shuttle program does not involve "space exploration" -- it is largely to support commercial activities such as satellite launches, etc. And it amounts to an enormous subsidy to the companies that use it, because it would be much cheaper for a company like AT&T to use a Chinese rocket or one of the French Arianne rockets to do the same thing.