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NASA has just achieved its goal of sending New Horizions spacecraft to Pluto, and now beyond. The launch was January 2006 and covered around 3.11 billion miles. The cost is around 700 million dollars. What do we get for our buck, 700 million of them, better health, safer or just a feel good sensation.

Heard a very interesting interview with one of the scientists when I was driving back from Dallas on Tuesday. Space travel isn't in my list of interesting or worthwhile things to spend money on but hearing this guy was informative and his enthusiasm was wonderful to hear.

seems to me that space exploration is a good thing . Lots of applications on earth from what is learned exploring space .

and , I think that it should be ramped up in the future so that the USA is always number 1 in space exploration or any other endeavor .

glenn/dallas wrote:NASA has just achieved its goal of sending New Horizions spacecraft to Pluto, and now beyond. The launch was January 2006 and covered around 3.11 billion miles. The cost is around 700 million dollars. What do we get for our buck, 700 million of them, better health, safer or just a feel good sensation.

Knowledge...pure and simple. Just knowledge to help us better understand the Universe we live in. Knowledge is inherently good. Don't you agree? How can we know what discovery will have significant health, safety or social impact.

And 700 mil is a bargain...we are paying more than that for new Frigates.

And, yeah, I do feel better now...knowledge is very good.

You can always make the argument that it's a waste of money.

Until they find something . . .

On a day such as this it's refreshing to have some productive and good news.

And, yes, it's productive. My universe has been enhanced. I know just a little
bit more today -- and, in this case, it's nothing short of human and solar system
greatness.

Not a miracle.

But way, way up there in my opinion.

mayhem wrote:On a day such as this it's refreshing to have some productive and good news.

And, yes, it's productive. My universe has been enhanced. I know just a little
bit more today -- and, in this case, it's nothing short of human and solar system
greatness.

Not a miracle.

But way, way up there in my opinion.

Yep. And just because it's not among the things I consider most important doesn't mean it's not momentous or a good thing. I'd rather see the money spent to help those in need but that's my focus.

I was not negative or positive about the adventure into space, I simply asked the question. Some of you missed the "?".

and by the way, I do , well I did, drink Tang years ago and I do use a microwave

My husband still drinks Tang occasionally. Yes, they still make Tang.

What concerns me is that we haven't paid for any of this yet. It's all just a tiny part of the 18 trillion dollars that will have to be paid in the future. Heaping this kind of huge debt on people that aren't even born yet is immoral. Our parents and grandparents certainly didn't do that to us!

planosteve wrote:What concerns me is that we haven't paid for any of this yet. It's all just a tiny part of the 18 trillion dollars that will have to be paid in the future. Heaping this kind of huge debt on people that aren't even born yet is immoral. Our parents and grandparents certainly didn't do that to us!

Actually, they did. The so-called "greatest generation" were the first big deficit spenders in Washington.

That doesn't excuse continuing the practice now. We have a responsibility to clean up the mess and leave a better place for our children.

Mark wrote:

planosteve wrote:What concerns me is that we haven't paid for any of this yet. It's all just a tiny part of the 18 trillion dollars that will have to be paid in the future. Heaping this kind of huge debt on people that aren't even born yet is immoral. Our parents and grandparents certainly didn't do that to us!

Actually, they did. The so-called "greatest generation" were the first big deficit spenders in Washington.

That doesn't excuse continuing the practice now. We have a responsibility to clean up the mess and leave a better place for our children.

Deficit spending and debt are not the same thing. If you borrow and pay it back it's OK. If you borrow so much it can never be paid back you are going to default. When you default you get economic collapse and depression.

planosteve wrote:

Mark wrote:

planosteve wrote:What concerns me is that we haven't paid for any of this yet. It's all just a tiny part of the 18 trillion dollars that will have to be paid in the future. Heaping this kind of huge debt on people that aren't even born yet is immoral. Our parents and grandparents certainly didn't do that to us!

Actually, they did. The so-called "greatest generation" were the first big deficit spenders in Washington.

That doesn't excuse continuing the practice now. We have a responsibility to clean up the mess and leave a better place for our children.

Deficit spending and debt are not the same thing. If you borrow and pay it back it's OK. If you borrow so much it can never be paid back you are going to default. When you default you get economic collapse and depression.

Deficit spending creates debt. Our debt has been ever increasing for the past 60 years.