[from occupied ga]

Eventually NERVA lost its funding, and the project ended in 1973.

This makes my point. In fact it appears that exotic propulsion is farther away now than before. But all this is secondary to my main point that compusory funding of "sapce exploration" is just a cynical exercise in wealth transfer from the tapayers who worked for it to the aerospace industries and NASA bureaucrats who lobby for it. These people couldn't make a product or service that has a value on the open market (or choose not to) and resort to using the police power of government to confiscate wealth from the working populace.

[RadioAstronomer]

This makes my point. In fact it appears that exotic propulsion is farther away now than before. But all this is secondary to my main point that compusory funding of "sapce exploration" is just a cynical exercise in wealth transfer from the tapayers who worked for it to the aerospace industries and NASA bureaucrats who lobby for it. These people couldn't make a product or service that has a value on the open market (or choose not to) and resort to using the police power of government to confiscate wealth from the working populace.

Really? Do you think that those of us in the space program could not make a "product" elsewhere? I have been working with the space program for more than 22 years, and I have had the extreme privilege of working along side many a brilliant scientist/engineer.