Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I think this is a great acheivement and really cool. I can't wait to start seeing more pictures, but it is a total luxury. If times are tough and something needs to be cut, it's one of the first things that should be considered in my opinion.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I'm not saying that it should be ended completely. In the same vein as my original comment, when times are good, I think the budget should be inflated.
Human civilization will do fine if social and economic situations call for a reduced scope for a few years. The technology ripple effect won't cease or even slow down significantly when you look at it on a larger time scale.
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A little late to this but I completely disagree that the NASA budget should be cut. First, it's a incredibly small chunk of the US GDP with only 0.5% being spent on NASA. Contrast that with the TSA budget which is bigger and the defence budget which is almost 20% of the US GDP. Do we really need more warfare in this world?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U...._-_FY_2010.svg
Second, ROI of spinoff technologies from NASA has been estimated conservatively at 2-3 times of it's budget. That means the US actually makes money off of NASA investments rather than lose money. Even in tough times it would probably make sense to continue investment from this point alone.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonl...00827_1798.php