[ipso_facto]

Originally Posted by quagmire

NASA is like .04% of the US budget( that includes SLS, probes, satellites, etc). ..

Budget info here: Wikipedia - Budget of NASA

[Comet]

I'd be really interested in them trying to create some kind of biodome on the moon/mars.
I wonder if that would work.

Also, we do have better ways of getting to space now.
Check out SpaceX or Virgin Galactic's better alternatives.

[schoy]

I dunno -- perhaps its the childhood ideal of space exploration in me -- but I remember being transfixed in front of the ol' 15" CRT watching the first Space Shuttle take-offs and landings, thinking how cool it was to go up to the stars. I imagine it was the same feeling for those actually going and those in mission control (but obviously, the higher up the food chain, the more political the motivations became). But, at the basest level, it was just about doing something that didn't seem it could be done without that spark of human ingenuity and learning something new about our universe. I think I would gladly add an extra 1% to my tax dollars if but to continue this human endeavor ...

[O-cha]

We are plenty "capable" of sending people to space, we just aren't. And no, not everything requires humans. In fact, robotics have a lot of advantages over humans.

[Comet]

http://rt.com/usa/nasa-warp-engine-light-488/

[Edward]

I simply dislike the idea of mankind curbing any exploration efforts. We can't just be done with space exploration.

Space exploration also needs to be privatized, but I don't know how they can generate actual revenue from a seemingly bottomless pit of expense in R&D and operation.

[carve]

Originally Posted by schoy

... thinking how cool it was to go up to the stars.

Yeah...we didn't really get any closer to any other stars. Spending 40 years in low Earth orbit was pretty uninspiring.

... I think I would gladly add an extra 1% to my tax dollars if but to continue this human endeavor ...

There are quite a few great ideas for publically funded space exploration programs where if space enthusiastst chipped in $10/mo we could make some pretty amazing things happen. The government is just too inefficient and risk-averse with no real vision. Private is where the future is.

[Airforcebj]

As someone who had always dreamed of trying to go to space one day, and has flown higher than anyone except astronauts, it sure is sad the US isn't into manned space flight right now. I can only hope we return to it one day.

[carve]

Here's a good article on how the "Senate Launch System" is not an economically feasible program. For the cost of developing it we could do fleets of commercial launches.

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2330/1

[RobertRO]

Originally Posted by RobertRO on July 29, 2013

US astronauts still go in space, but that's possible mainly because the Russians are keeping the door open.
It will only take some strong political turmoil with Russia, and space may be a nice memory to US astronauts.

I bring up this topic again because the current Russia / US crisis over the situation in Ukraine has the potential of putting a question mark on the US missions in space.
If the political situation worsens, it may be that US astronauts will have to fly on broomsticks to the ISS and back, until the next US space vehicle will be operational.

Sorry for being so pissed off about this, but, despite what has been discussed above in this thread, I still find it unjustifiable that US has no space-worthy vehicle since mid 2011 - and it seems that there will be no change for the next 2 years or so.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by RobertRO

I bring up this topic again because the current Russia / US crisis over the situation in Ukraine has the potential of putting a question mark on the US missions in space.
If the political situation worsens, it may be that US astronauts will have to fly on broomsticks to the ISS and back, until the next US space vehicle will be operational.

Sorry for being so pissed off about this, but, despite what has been discussed above in this thread, I still find it unjustifiable that US has no space-worthy vehicle since mid 2011 - and it seems that there will be no change for the next 2 years or so.

A shuttle costs over $2 billion dollars. I was about to post that they're too expensive until I realized that the US govt is giving Ukraine $1 billion loan guarantee.

[carve]

SpaceX could send someone to space, effectively now, if NASA was slightly less risk averse.

[synclastica_86]

US used to be at the frontier of science. They had the biggest, fastest, furthest and baddest. But due to finding cuts, this in no longer the case. The fact that the largest particle accelerator is in Europe is simply an embarrassment. I am perhaps biased as I have a physics background myself, but I really think that the US, as a world power, should put more $ into science.

[Cuz5150]

Forget going in to space, right now......
Can we get back to flying Mach2.1

We have to bring back this machine first.....WTF!!!