Posted on 10/20/2009 12:55:11 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The nation that made it to the Moon in 12 years now struggles to build a satellite in that time and is at risk of losing its preeminence in space.
Those words come from one of the top four space intelligence lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, chairman of the House Select technical and tactical intelligence subcommittee, who spoke before an audience of some 1,200 intelligence practitioners and industry at the Geoint annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Ruppersburger noted that 20 years ago the U.S. had 70 percent of the commercial satellite market which is now down to 27 percent. The country faces serious risks to its launch industry, he said, noting that France continues to build new launchers and improve its technologies.
“Their companies are getting stronger and ours are getting weaker,” he said.
It isn’t just commercial communications satellites and space exploration where the US is fading. A string of enormous and nearly complete failures in developing intelligence satellites has left the administration and Congress exceedingly wary of funding new programs, such as the new spy satellite program approved in April by President Obama. “We can’t afford any more failures,” he said.
The Pentagon has gotten the message. “We are going to have to stop having faith-based acquisition,” said Gil Klinger, director of space and intelligence capabilities for OSD’s acquisition and technology shop. “The Air Force and the NRO, given an enlightened opportunity, will dig us out of this hole.”
To address those fundamental issues, Ruppersberger convened a series of informal hearings to probe into just what went wrong and how to fix it.
He said there were several broad areas that needed fixing.
(Excerpt) Read more at dodbuzz.com ...
Am I the only person ashamed of what this nation has become?
Thank God President Reagan didn’t live to see this.
We have pissed it all away in less than twenty years.
I am with you
Thanks bud.
America lost its vision about the time we elected Klintoon. It will take something horrific and world altering such as a VERY MAJOR war to wake up the American People again.
The death of testosterone and drive. It started in the schools with the oppression of boys and the empowerment of girls. Yes, Apollo 13 was a failed mission, but if you watch the movie, take note of the drive, passion and innovation of the men on the ground as well as the astronauts. Couple the demasculinization of men with the many federal regulations governing workplace behavior aimed at paralyzing men... Let’s just say it’s no wonder we can’t do ANYTHING anymore.
There is no greater threat to this nation’s security future than the loss of space leadership. We would be far better off to reject the neocon vision of bases and “nation-building” all over the world, and focus on military and civilian leadership in space.
Something tells me Hupperberger has some aerospace contractors in his district.
Got his name wrong, but a quick search confirmed my suspicion:
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?CID=N00025482
His top donors are all aerospace contractors. Your Congress, America. Owned by the special interests.
“... to wake up the American People again.”
Problem is, it’s becoming more difficult to know just who the ‘American People’ actually are. We have had major demographic shifts, in large measure thanks to the democrats, and we have ceased to be a melting pot. We are more like a cauldron, with lots of different ingredients that just don’t seem to be mixing very well. I’m not talking about race etc.. I don’t care what someone looks like, or where they come from. It’s about the desire to assimilate and become ‘American’. There doesn’t seem to be a national identity anymore.
It’s difficult to lead a race when you have no money...
20 years ago the U.S. had 70 percent of the commercial satellite market which is now down to 27 percent
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Back then we were stabbing Communism to death
Today we have a Communist stabbing US to death
The death of testosterone and drive. It started in the schools with the oppression of boys and the empowerment of girls. Yes, Apollo 13 was a failed mission, but if you watch the movie, take note of the drive, passion and innovation of the men on the ground as well as the astronauts. Couple the demasculinization of men with the many federal regulations governing workplace behavior aimed at paralyzing men...
/////////////////////
XACTLY
Look at our Prez, cocaine freak, closet homosexual, moslem foreign born who gets beat by his wife
When we stopped sending men to the moon we stopped finding inteligent life.
Want to find intelligent life on Mars, put Men on Mars.
We have come to have no common language, no
ideology common to us all, no pride as members
of a democratic federal republic, our polis
has been slowly weaned away from these things
in our younger generations. We have been taught
to “Celebrate diversity” to the extent that we
no longer pay a debt of gratitude to that which
tied us together for so long.
-snip-
He said there were several broad areas that needed fixing.
Top of the list is arms export reform. The so-called ITAR laws and regulations that govern what American companies can sell to foreign countries have crippled the US industry.
“Over time the policies meant to protect us are having the opposite effect,” the lawmaker said.
Didn't Clinton do this back when we had 70 percent of the market?
I agree. There seems to be a dearth of national pride.
“The nation that made it to the Moon in 12 years now struggles to build a satellite in that time and is at risk of losing its preeminence in space.”
After the Space Shuttle retires, we’ll be hitching rides to the International Space Station with the Russians.
We as a nation don’t do things very well anymore...
We live in a country that:
1. No longer salutes the flag at school
2. Won’t secure its borders
3. Forcibly de-emphasizes the strength of the traditional family
4. Elects “leaders” who won’t trumpet the greatness of America but are very quick to condemn it on the world stage
5. Has Maoists, closet pedophiles and muslims in its government
6. Lets unrestrained immigration permanently alter its demographic composition to the point of threatening its very existence
7. Is comprised of far too many people who would rather vote to grab goodies for themselves rather than do what’s needed to strengthen the country.
So, what do we expect?
We’ve died from a thousand cuts. All our resources are now consumed by those who want to regulate everything, sue over any offence and those who want their free stuff at someone elses expense.
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