Is this the end of the space program?

[LordRaiden]

I know I'm most definately not one who's wanting an end to the space program, but there are many who are in very powerful positions that are already pushing to get the entire space program and Nasa scrapped and thrown to the wind just because of Columbia. Many of these are also the same ones who have successfully gotten Nasa's budget cut repeatedly over the years, thus effectively sabotaging the program and strengthening their case.

Do you believe that Nasa should learn from this tragedy, fix what went wrong so it never happens again, then continue it's mission or should we scrap the entire space program and use the money elsewhere?

 

[notfred]

no.

 

[Aves]

Just ditch the ISS, but keep the space program.

 

[BMdoobieW]

"Keep it all! We need it! Fund it better!! The space program is important!"

It gives us something constuctive to do. It is 1000% better than most of the other things humans do, most of which are complete wastes of time.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: notfred
no.

 

[AnyMal]

I don't think that ditching space program is even an option. We learned so much in almost 50 years of space exploration, it's just too valuable to abandon.

 

[yobarman]

when the terrorist attacks get worse and worse, who's gonna be laughing when we're all up in space and everyone's down there getting bombed?!

i say put more funding into the program so we can leave all the dirtbags behind!

THIS PLAN IS GENIOUS!





ok a little overboard, but i believe in the program and don't want it cut.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Originally posted by: yobarman
when the terrorist attacks get worse and worse, who's gonna be laughing when we're all up in space and everyone's down there getting bombed?!

i say put more funding into the program so we can leave all the dirtbags behind!

THIS PLAN IS GENIOUS!



ok a little overboard, but i believe in the program and don't want it cut.

No kidding. And by the way, theres no 'we' about this. You and I will be left down here.

 

[LordRaiden]

I agree. We all know how dangerous the current systems are and there will eventually be failures at one point or another no matter what we do.

But I hope this also eventually gets us to the point that we're bounding around the stars like they do in Star Trek. But if we stop now, we'll never even get halfway there. Heck, we've still got to go to mars and make another visit to the moon.

 

[Kadarin]

The space program is mankind's future; we have a manifest destiny to get off this planet and spread out among the stars. To deny this would make us no better than the Muslim fanatics who are content to live in an Islamic state under Sharia law, stoning women who accidentally show a little ankle..

 

[LAUST]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33
The space program is mankind's future; we have a manifest destiny to get off this planet and spread out among the stars. To deny this would make us no better than the Muslim fanatics who are content to live in an Islamic state under Sharia law, stoning women who accidentally show a little ankle..

I'm not so sure the Universe is ready for earthlings, we don't exactly have our $h!t together or even look like we are trying.

 

[ThePresence]

Is this the end of the space program?

Hope not, there are 3 people up in the space station that will be needing a lift.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: BMdoobieW
It is 1000% better than most of the other things humans do, most of which are complete wastes of time.

bravo

 

[exp]

Cancelling the space program would be suicide IMO. Cut funding if you must but please don't abandon it entirely.

 

[idNut]

Why are we exploring other planets when we can't even maintain stability on this one?

 

[SoylentGreen]

Originally posted by: idNut
Why are we exploring other planets when we can't even maintain stability on this one?

We have a desire, a need.. to fsck up more areas of the galaxy.

 

[HombrePequeno]

Originally posted by: LAUST

Originally posted by: Astaroth33
The space program is mankind's future; we have a manifest destiny to get off this planet and spread out among the stars. To deny this would make us no better than the Muslim fanatics who are content to live in an Islamic state under Sharia law, stoning women who accidentally show a little ankle..

I'm not so sure the Universe is ready for earthlings, we don't exactly have our $h!t together or even look like we are trying.

We will never have our sh!t together. Should we stop everything just so we can try to fix society?

 

[Jmman]

Really in the grand scheme of things, the space shuttle is much safer than driving down the highway in your car. I hope we will end up with better funding for our space program because of this though. We spend thousands of times more money on building better weapons than we ever have on space exploration....

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Jmman
Really in the grand scheme of things, the space shuttle is much safer than driving down the highway in your car.

Really? Travelling at Mach 18 at 10 miles up in the air is safer than driving on terra firma at 70 mph? They say the same thing about airline travel. Ever notice the applause at the end of a flight? I've never seen that when a cab arrives at it's destination.

 

[speed01]

IMHO, space exploration is something that everyone can go along with. It isn't a USA thing or a Russia thing or a China thing, it is someplace where everyone is equal. There is no single country that can claim it and therefore in the great expanse beyond the planet we live on everyone who ventures there is a pioneer. To discontinue it would be like telling the Wright brothers not to fly.

Speed

 

[Bignate603]

I've always dreamed of going to the moon...

It sounds corny, but I think our destiny lies beyond being chained to a single rock.

Just like explorers went to uncharted lands centuries ago, our exploration has run out of ways to go, except up and out.

 

[Dudd]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Jmman
Really in the grand scheme of things, the space shuttle is much safer than driving down the highway in your car.

Really? Travelling at Mach 18 at 10 miles up in the air is safer than driving on terra firma at 70 mph? They say the same thing about airline travel. Ever notice the applause at the end of a flight? I've never seen that when a cab arrives at it's destination.

I doubt that the Space Program is safer than driving, considering that something like 3 out of 100 flights have ended in total failure. Good, but 3% is a fairly large failure rate. Taking into account the vast scale of the project, however, that's certainly to be expected. Many of the explorers of old perished, and these are our modern day explorers, going where few have gone before.

Flying, on the other hand, is vastly safer than flying. Per-capita, a higher percentage of drivers die than plane passengers. The only reason people clap (which I've never witnessed, btw) is because they have a fear of flying based on emotion, not fact. People are just more accustomed to driving than flying, so it fases them more.

 

[ScottyB]

7 people died, it's not like they finished off a small town.