Neil Tyson on NASA

The cost of the telescope they are talking about canceling would cover one MONTH in Afghanistan. The entire 50 year history of NASA has cost less than the TARP bill.


[YOUTUBE]3_F3pw5F_Pc[/YOUTUBE]

 

i didnt view this, but if he's referring to space exploration as 'dreaming,' and asserts that we've lost interest on what lies within the final frontier, he needs to take a look at the economy. Now is not the time for dreaming, and the time for stabilization. We can always explore once we secure the foundation.:toimonster:

and yes, NASA has a sick budget. A lot of what they do is cutting edge, that takes a lot of money to R&D, Q&A, etc, etc. I'd hate to see the price tag on the shuttles, rockets and jet fuel.

 

What you're missing is how little we've actually spent. EVERYTHING NASA has accomplished in 50 years cost less than the bank bailout bill. This new telescope which has the potential to see all the way back to the big bang, is the cost of one month in Afghanistan.

We aren't using our money properly.

 

No, he's talking about America as a whole has stopped dreaming and trying to actually be great. He was using space exploration as one example of how we in America use to dream big and push limits now being below average is considered greatness. See what's going on now in America as proof.

 

ah..at least my disclaimer worked out and prevented me from being bashed.

I just don't have my headphones on to listen.

 

When you think about how many every day products had it roots in Nasa/space it is hard to figure out how we get behind wars but not space missions. Look up how many patents Nasa has. Something is wrong here.

 

we get behind wars to secure our way of life, plain and simple.

you will never see us do away with our military, out of fear of the boogeyman. can't say this is bad either. when you look back throughout historical conquests, you'll understand how aggressive nations can be against others. Nations without a military or with a weak one, generally don't last long as respectable powers.

 

We have individuals who claim to be "leaders" who do not believe in science or education as a whole is a bad thing & people following them & co-signing such nonsense. Yeah, something is wrong.....very wrong.......:smt011

 

the military and the space program has been beneficial to our economy due to what you guys have stated earlier. I hate to see the space program die like it has. its a shame.

 

space or military? space or military?

hmmm

who needs NASA anyway with so many other privatized businesses leading the way for innovation? NASA came around in a time when we didn't have as many private firms out there. When you look at private firms like Boeing, Microsoft et al, and how sophisticated they have become, you have to ask yourself if the time of a government-funded space agency has come to an end.

http://news.cnet.com/Do-we-need-NASA/2009-11397_3-6211308.html

maybe this article can better illustrate what i'm trying so crudely to say

 

Incredibly wrong. Tyson was absolutely right - I'm old enough to remember my dad waking us up to watch the astronauts on the moon, for instance. There was this starry eyed sense of wonder at how much we were LEARNING about the universe, and it sparked a whole generation of us to grow up and be involved in science and technology.

Now? We're supposed to pretend that global climate change isn't happening when we can see it around us, we're supposed to pretend that the universe isn't evolving, etc etc ad nauseum. It's pathetic.

Where are the Neil Tysons, the Neil Armstrongs, the next Carl Sagan or Stephen Hawking going to come from?

 

I don't care about space right now.

 

It isnt a choice between space or military. How about between bailing out banks and space? Or between funding useless abstinence only sex education programs and space? Or between subsidizing corporate income tax cuts and space?

As for privatization, we can see how well THAT works out in the privatization of prisons, for a start. Or we could just realize that NASA did space exploration for the sheer knowledge of it, for learning, and not just because they found a profitable application. If we privatize our space program, we won't have exploration, we'll have exploitation. Not the same thing to go looking for money as to go looking for the stars.

 

Reality tv?

 

the non-government firms, obviously

brilliant minds do not always work directly for the government

in fact, they'd get paid more working for a private corporation and probably accomplish just as much.

 

Scuse me while I lolsob and laugh bitterly.

 

No, they would accomplish only what added to the corporate bottom line. It's not remotely the same thing.

Unbridled capitalism is not the answer to everything.

 

if you say so

but i'd like to point to companies like microsoft and IBM, that are always pushing our technological limits within their respective fields, providing us with more innovative applications and technologies that our government would never. sure, they're charging us for their stuff, however they're still exploring that whole aspect and improving our way of live. I'd take anything they'd produce over a malfunctioning hubble telescope anyday

 

They *only* research things which can profit. NASA researches things because they are there.

It's entirely possible that my love for climbing also colors my perspective. Climbing was for the sheer joy of it, the movement, the challenge, the love of mountains. It's not like there wasn't an easier way to the top, but I guarantee you I learned more about myself and the world around me climbing than I would have riding in a car up a paved road to the top of the mountain.

 

What is the difference between money given to the pvt. firms or Nasa whose results go for the good of all people?? How are you "ahead" by giving it to IBM or Microsoft??? Unless Bill Gates is your uncle you never told us about.


http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/transportation-science/ten-nasa-inventions.htm

Although most people today will never set foot on the moon, everyone likely comes in contact with a NASA by-product every day. Partnering with various research teams and companies, NASA continues to spawn a vast array of new technologies and products that have improved our daily lives. Basic steps in health, safety, communications and even casual entertainment find their ro*ots in the government branch commonly associated with rocket ships and floating people. In fact, NASA has filed more than 6,300 patents with the U.S. government [source: NASA Scientific and Technical Information].

Each year since 1976, NASA has published a list of every commercialized technology and product linked to its research. The NASA journal "Spinoff" highlights these products, which have included things like improved pacemakers, state of the art exercise machines and satellite radio. Each product was made possible thanks to a NASA idea or innovation.

But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to use many of these so-called spinoffs. Read on to learn about ten of these familiar products.