Cost of Mission to Mars, worth it?

2.5 billion cost of Mars mission, worth it?

  • Yes - Democrat

  • Yes - Republican

  • No - Democrat

  • No - Republican


Results are only viewable after voting.

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
38,750
31,795
136
Wonder how Romney would answer question. Involves science and spending. Cost is 2.5 billion. Won't comment on mission itself enough info in the news.
 
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OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
any and all money spent on space exploration is worth it. Obama is a Douche for killing the space program and pretty much destroying NASA.
 

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
198
106
Why were only the two major parties listed in the vote?

As a Libertarian I request equal time, and equal opportunities.

And yes, I think the mars mission is well worth the cost.
 

Spungo

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2012
3,217
2
81
When we handle bailouts and stimulus in the trillions, the cost to mars is LESS than pennies.
Remember that politicians don't care about how much money is spent. They care about who gets that money. Giving money to scientists is a complete waste of resources. How does science affect our everyday lives? That money would be better spent occupying worthless countries like Iraq and bailing out banks that are too inept to function without the government. If the government cared about limiting spending they would copy Iceland's strategy about massive debt problems:

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/14/499820/iceland-mortgage-foregiveness/?mobile=nc
hough only a tiny country of 320,000, Iceland made international headlines in 2008 when its banks defaulted on $85 billion, exemplifying the dangers of financial deregulation. But this year, Iceland’s economy will outgrow the euro area and the developed world on average.
And as difficult as it may be for conservatives here in the U.S. to stomach, at least some of the credit for Iceland’s expeditious recovery is due to its astonishing debt relief agreement.
Since the end of 2008, Iceland’s state-controlled banks have forgiven loans for more than a quarter of the population, a total equivalent to 13 percent of its annual gross domestic product. Despite shrinking 6.7 percent in 2009, Iceland’s economy is projected to expand 2.4 percent this year and next, compared with 0.2 percent in the euro area. And while Iceland’s recovery does not provide a complete parallel to U.S. economic woes, the island’s nascent success does demonstrate how loan forgiveness can help reignite a struggling economy. According to Icelandic economist Thorolfur Matthiasson:
“The lesson to be learned from Iceland’s crisis is that if other countries think it’s necessary to write down debts, they should look at how successful the [forgiveness of debt exceeding] 110 percent [of home values] agreement was here. It’s the broadest agreement that’s been undertaken.”

Iceland strategy: widespread bankruptcy and debt forgiveness
America: throw unlimited money at banks and never spend money on science
 

PJABBER

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2001
4,822
0
0
How come there is no category for independents?

I voted yes, this was an event that was seen around the world and it captured the imagination of new generations. In places where even dreams of accomplishments such as this are unlikely, it offers wonder, hope and inspiration.

The discoveries that this collection and analysis platform may bring are yet to be known, but if all goes well it will bring us closer to a practical understanding of our own place in the universe than most any other to date.

Is this worth $2.5 billion? It is a bang for the buck on so many levels that it will be decades before we see just how good a deal it really is.
 

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
When we handle bailouts and stimulus in the trillions, the cost to mars is LESS than pennies.
The sum of all of these penny programs is over a trillion bucks a year. The total expenditures are over $10,000 per year for every man, woman, and child in the US. Not pennies. I'm not saying that the space program needs to go - only your way of thinking. You're not alone in thinking this way. I'm afraid it's the norm rather than the exception and a major contributor to the current state of affairs.
 

Spungo

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2012
3,217
2
81
The London Olympics cost around $14 billion...the Mars lander is a bargain.
Conclusion: London is retarded. Install T3 high speed internet across the entire city? Nonsense. Let's host a bunch of stupid games that do absolutely nothing to improve the speed of porn downloading.
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Wonder how Romney would answer question. Involves science and spending. Cost is 2.5 billion. Won't comment on mission itself enough info in the news.

I am sure he would support it. He is a big govt liberal.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
35,455
9,677
136
The sum of all of these penny programs is over a trillion bucks a year. The total expenditures are over $10,000 per year for every man, woman, and child in the US. Not pennies. I'm not saying that the space program needs to go - only your way of thinking. You're not alone in thinking this way. I'm afraid it's the norm rather than the exception and a major contributor to the current state of affairs.

I'd rather tackle the bigger issues that are bankrupting us. Wars, stimulus, welfare, taxes.

Let us say we send a Mars rover twice a decade. $5 billion / 10 years. In that same time frame we easily incur $10 trillion in debt. At these figures our deficit spending alone could pay for 2,000 mars missions.
 

notposting

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2005
3,498
33
91
The sum of all of these penny programs is over a trillion bucks a year. The total expenditures are over $10,000 per year for every man, woman, and child in the US. Not pennies. I'm not saying that the space program needs to go - only your way of thinking. You're not alone in thinking this way. I'm afraid it's the norm rather than the exception and a major contributor to the current state of affairs.

I usually stay out of P&N (more accurately, refrain from commenting and leave when the dumb piles up too much) but this is a good comment.

If our elected officials looked at how to compose a proper budget and went from there, things would be a lot better.

What is our income?
What do we want spend money on, and what does each cost? Rank these in importance.
Make the two meet. Should be excess for savings (or paying down debt) and a bit in reserve for emergencies.

If it's not important enough, it doesn't make the cut. If it doesn't seem important enough at it's present price, can you cut it back enough?

Anyways, I would vote Independent-Worth It.
 

a777pilot

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2011
4,261
21
81
There should be but two answers to the quesation: Is this Mars landing worth it?
Yes or No.
 

MrMuppet

Senior member
Jun 26, 2012
474
0
0
Uh, I really don't know the details of Curiosity and the mission to Mars, but in general too little is spent on this kind of science and basic research.

I voted a resounding Yes! :thumbsup:

Space, f yeah!

Mars, f yeah!
 

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
I'd rather tackle the bigger issues that are bankrupting us. Wars, stimulus, welfare, taxes.

Let us say we send a Mars rover twice a decade. $5 billion / 10 years. In that same time frame we easily incur $10 trillion in debt. At these figures our deficit spending alone could pay for 2,000 mars missions.
Death by beheading or death by a thousand papercuts. Right now, we are going for both I think. I don't think anyone has the political will to really do anything about either at the moment.
 

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
I usually stay out of P&N (more accurately, refrain from commenting and leave when the dumb piles up too much) but this is a good comment.

If our elected officials looked at how to compose a proper budget and went from there, things would be a lot better.

What is our income?
What do we want spend money on, and what does each cost? Rank these in importance.
Make the two meet. Should be excess for savings (or paying down debt) and a bit in reserve for emergencies.

If it's not important enough, it doesn't make the cut. If it doesn't seem important enough at it's present price, can you cut it back enough?

Anyways, I would vote Independent-Worth It.
Agreed on all counts.
 

Pr0d1gy

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2005
7,774
0
76
We could have dropped an RC car in the Suadi desert and got the same results. Waste of money, waste of time. We need to stop having wars and starving people on this rock before we worry about the other ones flying around us.