NASA's Next Great Frontier..., ...making nice-nice with muslims?? Options

[Thunderbolt]

From Fox News...ignore the source, read the article

I absolutely hate it that science has, for so many decades now, been essentially a political tool. Even the lunar mision that culminated on the night before I was born was essentially JFK's way of giving Russia the finger, but I think we can safely say that this goes a little...I dunno...over the top? I mean, we could be working on hardening our power grids and other systems to solar flares and such, but we're spending time on this?
While I agree with Obama's initiative to get kids interested in math and science again, God knows we've got a national obsession with everyone wanting to be a frickin celebrity, the main thrust of this article is just too much for me.
I understand that it may have been reaching to think that we might have had lunar colonies and asteroid belt mining by now, but I always thought we would still keep moving in that direction, especially considering how finite the Earth's resources are, and NASA was always a leader towards this kind of exploration. To see them reduced to a diplomatic dog and pony show for the current administration, after years of not doing much at all under the Bush adminstration, and seeing that the shuttle program is not going to be replaced, but we are in fact going to subordinate ourselves to other nations for space travel....ugh. How far have we fallen? Well, I mispoke, we haven't fallen, we jumped.
You thoughts gang?

[DeathStalker]

I generally agree... when I was real little, shuttle launches were awesome. About the 90s, though, it seemed of very little interest to me. I think that says something about us in general, we lose interest after a few seconds, and even great mankind advancing space technology is no big shake in our minds. It SHOULD be amazing, but we are too worried about which monkey is going to win American Idol, or what Oprah is saying to Tom Cruise. I definitely agree that everyone in this country is fascinated with becoming a celebrity, with few exceptions. (You guessed it, I have done everything possible to avoid even being somewhat known in the media...and somewhate failed..)) I have skills, talents, and I am even a decent orator.. but NO WAY would I want the limelight on me.. but I am one of the few satisfied with being a blade of grass in a field, not everyone is.

But lets talk about this international thing for a moment. Future space travel depends on the cooperation of the international community? Well, then I wouldn't expect the next space flight to get much higher off the ground than a spruce tree. The Int'l community cannot even decide whether they are all for sanctions on Iran, I doubt there would be much cooperation for concerns that are not as close by.

Does this mean we will be hitching a ride on Turkey's spaceship, does this mean that we do not have the funding to "go it alone?" I would suspect that is the case.. after all, our monies are tied up in 2 foreign wars, an ailing and almost floundering economy, we need money and developments from other countries. So there is no American-only space trajectory in our future... a little disappointing, but there were a BUNCH of people who complained when Bush wanted to go to Mars, because there were enough problems on Earth that needed our attention.

Not sure what future space travel has to do with Muslims or diplomacy, it boggles my mind that is even part of the story, yet it is really the main point. But yeah, FOX news reporting on something about our president in regards to the Muslim World? No surprise there! Personally, I am all for cooperation and understanding between cultures, but I am not sure why a space program hinges on diplomacy in the middle east. Because they fuel the rockets?

[Thunderbolt]

Yeah, not sure where the connection is there either which was why I even bothered to post about it. Obviously, Fox was going for the Obama is a secret Muslim thing, which makes about as much sense as the whole birth certificate thing, but I digress (no surprise there).

I know we're strapped for cash, but I still think that some of our problems here could be solved by proper exploration of our own solar system. I am not that concerned with interstellar travel because the physics involved make it somewhat impractical, but I definitely think we could perhaps solve some raw materials issues and maybe even some energy issues with space exploration, but we'll never know if the current trend continues.

Think about it man, Tesla had a system for beaming power around the planet, imagine if we could put something like that in orbit to run our TVs off of instead of the antiquated grid system we are currently using. But again, with no vision, we won't get off the ground.

[Wildcard]

I think I've mentioned it on here before somewhere, but there's a biography of Neal Armstrong (I think the only authorized bio) called First Man that's really an amazing book. One of the contentions that the author makes is that Armstrong was chosen to command Apollo 11 at least partially because of how much he impressed everyone on a press and PR tour the astronauts did of South America in 1967.

Most of the Apollo astronauts thought of press events and PR as a major nuisance and a distraction. Armstrong took it seriously. He took Spanish lessons before the trip, and spent long hours during the tour signing autographs, doing interviews, and impressing local bigwigs and diplomats. He just blew everyone at NASA out of the water with his poise, speaking ability, and decorum. Everybody in South America pretty much fell in love with him.

NASA knew that whoever walked on the Moon first would be Christopher Columbus-type famous, and they felt like Armstrong would be a good fit. What they had in mind for him was to be their PR point man for the rest of his life, basically. What they didn't realize was that he mastered the PR game because it was part of the job, and it was in his nature to try and excel at anything he was required to do. That didn't mean he liked it. Part of the reason behind the rift between NASA and Armstrong is that once he got back from the Moon and retired from the astronaut corps, he wasn't interested in being their PR flack anymore.

Now, the point of that little story is just to demonstrate that PR, and especially international PR has always been a major reason for NASA's existence. Even during the breakneck pace of the Apollo program NASA was flying astronauts all over the planet to wave the flag and impress the locals - and that sort of effort on NASA's part has never really stopped. PR is still a significant portion of their budget.

Second, Obama is convinced that one of the reasons why the Islamic world hates us is that we've been arrogant bastards for the last decade or so. Well, longer than that. Really since the Soviets collapsed in 1990. So what he's asking NASA to do is turn some of that massive PR attention to people who don't like us, and maybe in the process acknowledge the debt that western physics and mathematics owes to Arab and Islamic scholars.

I don't necassarily think it will make them love us or anything, but I also don't see anything wrong with it.

[Gwydion]

PR has always been a major reason for NASA's existence.

Yeah but you know, actually going to space is a bigger reason. When do we start doing that again in a meaningful way?

[Thunderbolt]

Yuppers. I see your points, 'Card and honestly I have spent more time reading bios of Tesla than Armstrong, eventhough I was born on the day after they did the EVA to the Lunar surface, but I still weigh more on the side with Gwydd; when will we actually perform meanignful exploration again?

[DeathStalker]

Likely not any time soon, financial issues are too prevalent for any political figure to go on a limb and suggest paying for the enormous sums it takes to do anything in space. Everyone's so tied up on the "We are mortgaging our children's future" kick right now, it would be hard to find many politicians willing to take a risk on suggesting Americans cough up extra tax dollars to fund more space exploration.

"You know what makes this bird go up? FUNDING makes this bird go up.. No bucks, No Buck Rodgers."- The Right Stuff

And...

Douglas Adams' Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy says this on money:
"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

This planet has—or rather had—a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy. And so the problem remained; lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches. "

[Thunderbolt]

Yes...erm...has anyone chcked to see whether or not we've been notified of a pending hyperspace by-pass?

[DeathStalker]

“There's no point in acting all surprised about it. The plans and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning office in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge formal complaints.”

“What do you mean you've never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven's sake mankind, it's only four light years away you know. I'm sorry, but if you can't be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that's your own lookout. Apathetic bloody planet, I've no sympathy at all. Energize the demolition beams. "

[Thunderbolt]

“There's no point in acting all surprised about it. The plans and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning office in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge formal complaints.”

“What do you mean you've never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven's sake mankind, it's only four light years away you know. I'm sorry, but if you can't be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that's your own lookout. Apathetic bloody planet, I've no sympathy at all. Energize the demolition beams. "

Right. That tears it. Just finished up King;s Eyes of the Dragon, now I will re-read the giude!

[DeathStalker]

“There's no point in acting all surprised about it. The plans and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning office in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge formal complaints.”

“What do you mean you've never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven's sake mankind, it's only four light years away you know. I'm sorry, but if you can't be bothered to take an interest in local affairs that's your own lookout. Apathetic bloody planet, I've no sympathy at all. Energize the demolition beams. "

Right. That tears it. Just finished up King;s Eyes of the Dragon, now I will re-read the giude!

Me too!

[Thunderbolt]

Hang on...no good...just ran across my copy of William Gibson's "Spook Country," which I just remembered I never finished. I'll have to read that first.