Atlantis Lifts Off on Mission to Hubble

Here we are broke and digging a hole, and we're still pretending we're the Jetsons... When are we going to reign in this ridiculously expensive hobby? Reply

TerrifiedCitizen, the amount spent on NASA is negligible compared to other programs funded by the Gov't. Here a few quickies for you... According to budget documents obtained from the Government Printing Office, the national budget for 2007 totals about $2.784 trillion. At $16.143 billion, spending on NASA accounts for 0.58% of this...For every $1 the federal government spends on NASA, it spends $98 on social programs... consider that the New Horizons robotic mission to Pluto, which will answer fundamental questions about the solar system, was nearly canceled for lack of funds. The total cost of the New Horizons mission, including the launch vehicle, added up to $650 million. In other words, the New Horizons mission to Pluto cost less than a third the cost of a single B-2 bomber...the United States is in debt to the tune of $11.2 trillion. Merely paying the interest on this massive load of debt every year costs a fair amount of money. In 2006, the federal government had to allocate about $400 billion to this task, which adds up to more than 23.5 times the amount of NASA’s 2007 allocation. Space exploration could be argued to be the best bang for the buck when it comes to taxpayer dollars spent. Reply

Is it or isn't it obsolete? I read over a year ago that the Hubble is over-the-hill and we need something bigger and better. Perhaps the refits will stretch out its usability. I imagine it is a little sad to let such an awesome piece of equipment out to pasture. Reply

Bashing Space Exploration is naive and plain DUMB! Money should be no barrier ! It mustn't be fun living in such fear, terrified citizen. Reply