NASA- useless or not? (plenty of bitching)

[Matt]

I've been thinking about things lately. If NASA was cancelled would anyone care? OK, what's good about the space program? The only positive I can think of is having a few satellites in space to improve communication on earth

what about the negatives? Well there's heaps of these. NASA sends space crafts into space (duh!) and for what? The possibility that there "might" be something out there. So far they haven't come up with anything except useless soil samples.

***On another note doesn't it say "In God We Trust" on US currency? well isn't the space program a contradiction of this? Wouldn't God create one world for us? Are we meant to explore the universe or is it supposed to remain a mystery?***

back to my point.....anyways, NASA's annual budget is $13.6 billion

NASA's $13.6 billion annual budget

http://www.spaceprojects.com/spacenews92500/

now that's a lot of money to spend on BS. Think of what this money could do. The US could feed ALL of the poor, reduce poverty, improve infrastructure, improve healthcare and improve the education system and help out internationally.

check this out

FACT: The United States annual military spending will total $397 billion in 2003.
FACT: This is more than is spent on education, transportation, healthcare, housing, and commerce combined.
FACT: The United States spends over $1 billion per day on its military.
FACT: The 2003 U.S. military budget exceeds the budgets of the next 25 nations combined.
FACT: The U.S. military budget accounts for more than 36% of total world military spending.
FACT: 41% of Americans tax dollars are spent on the military.
FACT: Number of Americans living below the poverty line: 33 million+.
FACT: Amount of money needed yearly to feed and provide basic healthcare for all of the world s poor: $13 billion.
FACT: The military budget increase alone for 2003 is $46 billion.
FACT: Amount of money needed to provide health care for all uninsured children in the U.S.: $19.5 billion.
FACT: 24 federal programs will be eliminated in 2003 under the Bush budget. These are mainly education, healthcare, and human services programs. FACT: Highway and transportation projects will be cut by $9.2 billion in 2003.
FACT: Estimated cost to the United States of a war in Iraq: $100 billion.
FACT: Cost of a National Missile Defense shield: $200 billion.
FACT: 2003 U.S. budget allocation for our nuclear weapons program: $16 billion.
FACT: 2003 budget allocation for social services: $16 billion.

http://www2.cruzio.com/~egar/military_expense.html

I've highlighted some important figures.....what's interesting that 33 million Americans live below the poverty line and 13 billion can feed and provide basic healthcare for the world's poor. Oh but wait who gives a rats ass, we need more money for the military so that we can blow shit up in Iraq and use our "Weapons of mass destruction" excuse

seriously, they should cancel NASA, not that it will happen and the military budget is huge, and it's ever increasing and do you feel safer?

[J@3]

I honestly wouldn't care. All you ever hear from NASA is them fucking up some little moon crawling thing that crashed to Earth and exploded, it's not as if they're actually doing anything to better the World they're just doing things for their own curiosity.

[Matt]

Yeah that's what they are essentually doing. I wonder how many lives the space program improves? we know that the money it gets could improve the lives of 33 millions americans + the rests of the worlds poor.

Sad to see that people don't have their priorities right

[J@3]

I'd imagine the only lives that are being improved by NASA are the lives of the people who work there. Seriously who cares if there was once life on Mars? Is there any there now? No. So unless they find aliens wandering around who can help the World develop in a positve way (none of that Independance Day shit) then fine, otherwise I don't see the need for them to have so much funding.

[Matthew]

Who cares either way? Foreign country, foreign elections, foreign government...

Foreign budgets may be added to that as well.

[J@3]

Lol point made Matthew, now go follow up your political opinions and vote for George Bush.

Oh wait, you can't

[Matthew]

Way to go Jae

[creasy4747]

NASA is 100% useless. What a waste of money. Who gives a F about the stars, I sure don't.

[Matt]

the whole western world has the power to easily overcome poverty but they have ulterior motives

Nth Korea (not really western but anyways) would rather build Nukes
Russia prefers to pump money into sports more than education i would think
USA has the military

and theres other countries but i just cant be bothered listing

[Stevan]

LOL. Down with NASA...

[Matt]

WORD!!!!

***sorry had to say that after reading your sig Stevan, word111***

[Matthew]

the whole western world has the power to easily overcome poverty but they have ulterior motives

Do you sponser an african kid via world vision matt?

[j.23]

if the moon was urbanized i think it would be such a kick-ass place.. i've been having a vision of people simply partying on the moon, dont ask me why

*prepares to get flamed*

[J@3]

the whole western world has the power to easily overcome poverty but they have ulterior motives

Do you sponser an african kid via world vision matt?

Sure he does, he's gotta help out da black man yo

[Matt]

the whole western world has the power to easily overcome poverty but they have ulterior motives

Do you sponser an african kid via world vision matt?

no i don't I have no income. I was talking about governments, they have the power to single handedly decrease poverty

[#12]

its useful in the future, when we run out of space to put our garbage, where will we live???The sun explodes and man will die. NASA will find to a way to live life on another planet



I don't know what im saying

[Riot]

all the other planets would be cold and too icey for us to live on too.

Unless we find another sun in another galaxy or somehow we come up with our own "sun" it's impossible.

Plus, sun will explode a couple billion years. By then I think the human race will have killed itself.

[Matt]

when we run out of space to put our garbage

this will never happen.

[Matthew]

no i don't I have no income. I was talking about governments, they have the power to single handedly decrease poverty

I didnt mean to single you out.. i just wanted to know if you did or not, becuase these countries (australia included) tend to look after their own before others. It's just human nature..

[Riot]

when we run out of space to put our garbage

this will never happen.

actually, our landfills are overflowing right now. But we can always store our trash on the Moon.

[Matt]

no i don't I have no income. I was talking about governments, they have the power to single handedly decrease poverty

I didnt mean to single you out.. i just wanted to know if you did or not, becuase these countries (australia included) tend to look after their own before others. It's just human nature..

no prob, I do give money to my Church though each week and that goes to charities in India and Africa. It's funny though because poverty isn't an issue that many governments put highly on their priority lists. They prefer terms like "unemployment" (which will never be 0, I think 2% was the lowest UE rate in Australia's history)

I just hate it when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Everything has to be so corporate these days.