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Apollo 11 Dismembered

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Re: Apollo 11 Dismembered

#2
We have a government spending trillions of dollars with plans to spend more and he suggests spending billions more on space travel? The real solution is to eliminate the regulatory barriers to private space travel and sell off NASA to interested private parties. The Moon might not be their first priority, but we would have a much more vibrant space program and the costs for larger missions would drop dramatically.

Re: Apollo 11 Dismembered

#3
post #2

We have a government spending trillions of dollars with plans to spend more and he suggests spending billions more on space travel? The real solution is to eliminate the regulatory barriers to private space travel and sell off NASA to interested private parties. The Moon might not be their first priority, but we would have a much more vibrant space program and the costs for larger missions would drop dramatically.

This idea isn't a bad one. In case anyone is interested, the most successful private space company so far is SpaceX, started by a co-founder of PayPal. It recently (December 2008) won a contract from NASA to resupply the ISS. I believe the X is because the goal of the founder is to improve the cost of spaceflight by a factor of 10.

http://www.spacex.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

Re: Apollo 11 Dismembered

#6
post #3
post #2

We have a government spending trillions of dollars with plans to spend more and he suggests spending billions more on space travel? The real solution is to eliminate the regulatory barriers to private space travel and sell off NASA to interested private parties. The Moon might not be their first priority, but we would have a much more vibrant space program and the costs for larger missions would drop dramatically.

This idea isn't a bad one. In case anyone is interested, the most successful private space company so far is SpaceX, started by a co-founder of PayPal. It recently (December 2008) won a contract from NASA to resupply the ISS. I believe the X is because the goal of the founder is to improve the cost of spaceflight by a factor of 10. http://www.spacex.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

There's also http://www.copenhagensuborbitals.com/ started by a crazy friend of mine.

From their mission statement: "Our mission is very simple. We are working towards launching a human being into space. This is a non-profit suborbital space endeavor, based entirely on sponsors and volunteers."

They've done a number of successful booster tests and are well on their way to the goal.

Re: Apollo 11 Dismembered

#7
Nice rant. If I think about it long enough, it's depressing. So I won't. I'll code something instead.

(Sometimes I think the reason I program so much is because the big issues seem so futile. This is one thing that I can do something about right now, so I do.)

Re: Apollo 11 Dismembered

#8
post #4

This is one of the best pieces I've read in a while. Definitely worth your time.

It was nice to get an alternative to the idiocracy theory that we're getting stupider because stupid people are having more kids. That sort of thinking is doomed to turn a grave social problem into a two sided us-vs-them culture war.

Re: Apollo 11 Dismembered

#9
post #4

This is one of the best pieces I've read in a while. Definitely worth your time.

I agree with all of the points. The knowledge of science across the population as a whole is decaying in the US. Could've edited better.

It's more meta than that. If knowledge was decaying yet interest remained high, then that could be addressed straightforwardly.

What's happening is analogous to children believing that meat comes from supermarkets, not farm animals... Accomplishments of science and engineering are taken for granted. But mobile phones and MP3 players don't grow on trees...

Re: Apollo 11 Dismembered

#10
"We’re having a debate in this country over whether or not evolution is true. They have half a point- evolution isn’t science, not anymore. Today it’s technology."

What an excellent point.

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