Space exploration what a waste of money

[jimslip]

I think space exploration is a wonderful thing Man strivng to explore the unknown and in so doing discovering all sorts of other things on the way. What the miseries don't realise are all the technological spin offs that have resulted from the space programme.



If it wasnt for the space programme, this is what your laptop would look like:

[img]http://www.anasrifai.com/images/computer1950x440.jpg[/img]

and your video player:

[img]http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popu ... 0-0308.jpg[/img]

[Gusset Sniffer]

Errrrrr my video recording device does look like that! Where can I buy jimslip in Betamax?

[JamesW]

It's odd that mrmcfister hasn't turned his sights on something like alcohol consumption - Americans spend 22 times more per year on alcohol than is given to NASA for the space program. Surely if people drank even a little less and gave the money to Haiti instead it would provide enough homes for the people there?

[mrmcfister]

It will be many generations before the billions spent on exploring will really benefit us here.Meanwhile spend wiser.

[jimslip]

I reckon there would have been people throughout the ages that mocked the great explorers of their time. Captain James Cook must have had miseries at the dockside chiding, "Why doth thou spend such an abundance of gold pieces on fruitless quests to discover New Worlds? None here are impressed! Such wealth shoud be made as alms to the poor and the needy folk that toil in our City banks!"

Or when Sir Edmund Hillary waved goodbye on his way to conquer Everest was he cat called with, "Thou'st no better than the fool, why scale such a mountain in far off lands when thou'st has Box Hill in Surrey waiting to be explored? Lay down your ropes and ice pick and give the money to the Pearly Kings and Queens of Olde London town, that bring us all much merriment"

I reckon Alexander the Great, David Livingstone, Magellan, Columbus, Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama etc etc would have all been accused of going on fruitless quests and wasting money!!happy!

[JamesW]

Yes spend wiser. Like all the money the U.S. spends on tobacco products - double the NASA budget. Or the money they spend on cocaine - estimated to be 3 times the NASA budget. Or how about gift cards - close to double the NASA budget. Or pet products - more than double the NASA budget. Or how about personal boats and yachts - over 10 times NASA's annual budget. But then mrmcfister is no doubt a big supporter of some of these industries. After all ask yourself this - where would we be without those all important gift cards?

[Bob Singleton]

Exploration (be it space or elsewhere) is part of human nature... without it we'd still all be living in caves. Reading mrmcfister I get the impression he still is, and is more than happy to be there, the poor fool!

[mrmcfister]

Fuck..everyone loves the star gazers!!

[jimslip]

mrmcfister wrote:

> Fuck..everyone loves the star gazers!!

No NOT everyone, there does exist one man that no one wants, the so called, "Captain Calamity of Space", Professor Colin Pillinger or ol' Muttonchops to his mates, presided over the disastrous British Beagle 2 project to Mars. In this collosal waste of money Ol' Muttonchops attempted to land a Sinclair C5 on Mars to explore the terrain and report back to Earth! Needless to say it was a total failure!

Ol' Professor Muttonchops:

[img]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Sh5w06iMxNA/TOZHQ ... n_mars.jpg[/img]

[andy at handiwork]

Be fair, could have happened to anyone.