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Most want money spent on Earth, not space (Barf Alert)
Houston Comical (AP) ^
| 1/13/04
| WILL LESTER
Posted on 01/13/2004 6:32:31 AM PST by The_Victor
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's plan to build a space station on the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars hasn't grabbed the public's imagination, an Associated Press poll suggests.
More than half in the poll said it would be better to spend the money on domestic programs rather than on space research.
Asked whether they favored the United States expanding the space program the way Bush proposes, people were evenly split, with 48 percent favoring the idea and the same number opposing it, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
Most respondents said they generally support continuing to send humans into space.
However, given the choice of spending money on programs like education and health care or on space research, 55 percent said they wanted domestic programs. Based on previous estimates for a moon-Mars initiative, the space cost would run in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
"You can't have a war, cut taxes, have the economy in a garbage pail and spend billions going into space," said Dallas Hodgins, a 76-year-old retired University of Michigan researcher from Flint, Mich. "How are they going to pay for all this? I don't see how it's morally justifiable. In Flint, there isn't a school roof that doesn't leak."
On Wednesday, Bush is scheduled to spell out details of his proposal to use an outpost on the moon as a jumping-off point for more remote destinations such as Mars or asteroids.
Those most likely to favor the plan to expand space exploration were men, young adults, people with more education and those with higher incomes.
It made a difference who was said to be behind the plan. When half the poll sample was asked about a "Bush administration" plan to expand space exploration instead of the "United States" plan, opposition increased.
Just over half of Democrats opposed the plan by "the United States." Once it was identified as a "Bush administration" plan, Democrats opposed it by a 2-1 margin.
Some have suggested that space exploration could be expanded more inexpensively using robots instead of humans to explore the moon or other planets. The AP-Ipsos poll indicated that option was popular, with 57 percent favoring exploring the moon and Mars with robots and 38 percent saying humans.
TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: polls; space
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To: Flightdeck
Using the current political lexicon, I was employing the term to classify those who still think NASA represents a competent government agency.
61
posted on
01/13/2004 12:31:16 PM PST
by
JohnGalt
(And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another. -Josey Wales)
To: JohnGalt
...And you continue to live in Mass? Even my ancestors took one look at the place and moved...to Conn and points West, 1629
I now live in NH and Mass as a rebuttal to future shots.
62
posted on
01/13/2004 12:33:32 PM PST
by
Little Bill
(The pain of being a Red Sox Fan.)
To: The_Victor
Spend the money on Asimo robots for everyone. An Asimo in every pot!
63
posted on
01/13/2004 12:35:05 PM PST
by
GraniteStateConservative
("Howard Dean is incontrovertible proof that God is on Bush's side in the 2004 election"- Dick Morris)
To: Little Bill
The 1814 SocietyI consider New England a separate country but will head North before too much longer. It's a tough battle for the under-30 crowd in Massachusetts.
64
posted on
01/13/2004 12:37:23 PM PST
by
JohnGalt
(And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another. -Josey Wales)
To: JohnGalt
It's a tough battle for the under-30 crowd in Massachusetts..Trying to hire someone from the under-30 crowd is difficult, to many self promoters not enough workers, if you can get someone who can keep their mouths shut long enough to learn something you are fortunate. A lot of smart people out there but not to many who want to pay the dues.
I am retiring in a couple of years so there is a slot open in the Power Engeneering biz. Long hours and good pay, a lot abuse goes with it.
65
posted on
01/13/2004 12:59:53 PM PST
by
Little Bill
(The pain of being a Red Sox Fan.)
To: TigerTale
I thought I laid the sarcasm on plenty thick!
I'm all for digging into the asteroids, but to continue the Alaska parallel, they're like the whales: chickenfeed. The unfound riches in the Moon are like the gold and oil in Alaska- far beyond our guesses.
66
posted on
01/13/2004 1:09:13 PM PST
by
mrsmith
To: mrsmith
I thought I laid the sarcasm on plenty thick! One of the most difficult inflections to convey via text, IMO. :)
67
posted on
01/13/2004 1:19:28 PM PST
by
TigerTale
(From the streets of Tehran to the Gulf of Oman, let freedom ring.)
To: The_Victor
Of course the leeches and the parasites want the money spent on
them earth!
D'OH!
68
posted on
01/13/2004 1:29:16 PM PST
by
Publius6961
(40% of Californians are as dumb as a sack of rocks.)
To: JohnGalt
"I was employing the term to classify those who still think NASA represents a competent government agency"
That's what I thought you meant, and you are horribly wrong. While they need to get rid of both O'Keefe and his deputy and replace them with scientists, NASA today is bearing the brunt of know-less-than-nothing journalists and speculators. For all the people who think the X-prize represents private industry triumphing over government incompetency, I've got news for you: Rutan and his white knight are orders of magnitude behind what NASA can do, and they are only there because of NASA in the first place.
NASA is much more than a "competent" government agency. It's personnel are for the most part in another sphere of knowledge, and would probably laugh at the inane criticisms, if the criticizers didn't have control over their budget. I ask any armchair critics of NASA to please explain to me the three bodies in motion problem that was just the first of dozens of technical problems to get Spirit safely on Mars. And when you're done criticizing the space shuttle, I'd like to see you try and build the first ever liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen rocket engines complete with preburners and turbopumps in triplicate and have them work in tandem with the largest controlled explosions (SRB's) on earth. Then do it 135 times in a row (you're allowed one failure!) Then do it without computers. There was not a SINGLE astronaut in the corps who wouldn't volunteer to be the next one up the day after Columbia disintegrated, so before you use their lives in your equations, why don't you ask them what they're willing to risk.
I know these people. I speak with a great deal of knowledge of NASA. They are the most brilliant community of people assembled on earth. Those of you who don't have the information, and criticize what you don't understand look foolish to those who do.
To: Flightdeck
If my gubmint check was as big as yours, I'd probably be defending them too.
70
posted on
01/13/2004 1:56:59 PM PST
by
JohnGalt
(Neoconservatives: Appeasers to the Alien Invaders)
To: mrsmith
The unfound riches in the Moon are like the gold and oil in Alaska- far beyond our guesses. Here, this may prove useful:
This news release may contain forward-looking statements concerning the Company's business and future prospects and other similar statements that do not concern matters of historical fact. Forward-looking statements relating to product development, business prospects and development of a commercial market for technological advances are based on the Company's current expectations. The Company's current expectations are subject to all of the uncertainties and risks customarily associated with developing business ventures including, but not limited to, risks associated with new product development and availability of raw resources and suppliers, risks to marketed products and availability of financing and other sources of income, as well as risks discussed in the Company's periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. The Company's actual results may differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this release and to read it in conjunction with the Company's annual report on Form 10-KSB, including the consolidated financial statements filed therewith. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or for any other reason.
71
posted on
01/13/2004 2:00:36 PM PST
by
RightWhale
(How many technological objections will be raised?)
To: JohnGalt
"If my gubmint check was as big as yours, I'd probably be defending them too."
Drivel. More like, if you knew as much as I knew, you'd be defending them, too. And the "gubmint" doesn't pay me, I pay them.
But you don't know as much as I do, and you never will. Come back with a Ph.D. in engineering or physics, and maybe I'll listen. Otherwise your presence on this message board is useless, "gubmint".
To: Flightdeck
If I had a nickel for every gubmint employee who thinks their job is essential and somehow immune to the failure and inefficiency of all other socialist enterprises...
Tell you what, if you quit your job today, you would probably be helping this web site achieve its mission statement.
We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America
73
posted on
01/13/2004 2:14:52 PM PST
by
JohnGalt
(Neoconservatives: Appeasers to the Alien Invaders)
To: RightWhale
Mike Doogan's column "...The moon is cold, dark, lonely and a long way away from the continental United States.
Remind you of anywhere?
So when the folks at NASA get around to figuring out who to send, who will they pick?
That's right. Us.
At least that's who they should pick. I mean, ask yourself this. If your lunar rover got a flat, who would you rather see coming around the crater? Some guy in one of those Pillsbury Doughboy suits who grew up in Chicago and has a Ph.D in astronautics? Or a fellow from Tok driving a beater pick-up full of rusty tools and dogs?
Of course, somebody would have to figure out how to make a spacesuit for a dog. But that's just details. As long as it can be patched with duct tape, practically anything will do.
Clearly, what the moon colony needs are people with practical experience in a forbidding climate. Not a bunch of button-pushing fitness fanatics with zero experience trying to put a generator back together at 30 below... "
74
posted on
01/13/2004 3:13:51 PM PST
by
mrsmith
To: mrsmith
somebody would have to figure out how to make a spacesuit for a dog. Done. Saw it 30 years ago. A Saint Bernard looks kind of odd in a spacesuit, but there it is.
75
posted on
01/13/2004 3:16:30 PM PST
by
RightWhale
(How many technological objections will be raised?)
To: The_Victor
I want a pony.
76
posted on
01/13/2004 3:44:28 PM PST
by
johnb838
(Understand the root causes of AMERICAN anger.)
To: mrsmith
I love whales but they've got to go.
77
posted on
01/13/2004 3:47:28 PM PST
by
johnb838
(Understand the root causes of AMERICAN anger.)
To: JohnGalt
I just said I didn't work for the government. Rather than address any issue we were debating, you tried to spin-off some stupid attack on "gubmint". There is no "gubmint". I looked it up in the dictionary. It's not a word. Quit using it.
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