kidding...I know it's not your satellite. Just a lil ribbing.

NASA greenhouse gas satellite fails - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/02/24/nasa.launch/index.html)

If only they had gotten a harness from another company. Hmm... ;)

SI

Yeah, oddly enough I just switched off of night shifts, if I had been on all night, I would've been in the mission operations control room opposite where they were going to fly OCO from. A friend sent me a text message this morning with the news (I'm still working evenings, so I won't get into work til later).

Sucks.

(and for the record, SI, I don't do harness anymore. :P hehe)

/tk

Arianespace - VideoCorner (http://www.videocorner.tv/videocorner2/a5_vod/index.htm) is the one I just worked on.

/tk

haha - I was just messing with you TK. I wasn't even assuming it was your satellite - it was more like "here's a story about a rocket, let's get TK to comment"

haha - I was just messing with you TK. I wasn't even assuming it was your satellite - it was more like "here's a story about a rocket, let's get TK to comment"

HAH.
Well, it's really a shame about OCO. I've seen a few science mission launches, and this is the first one in awhile that's gotten a lot of pre-launch press. It seemed like every news outlet had something to say about it in their "science" section and most science/tech websites had a story about the mission. It would have provided some interesting science and hopefully insight into what's going on with our atmosphere/environment.

/tk

Al Gore just called. He said that global warming caused the separation failure.

looks like it dunked in the ocean. boooo.

we need more spending on satellite missions, and eventually manned missions, and then interstellar missions. i don't like all our eggs being in this one basket.

we need more spending on satellite missions, and eventually manned missions, and then interstellar missions.

for sure.

I mean, who cares the country is in a recession, people are being laid off like crazy, universities are losing funding and homes are being forclosed on at an all time high.

Lets spend a few billion more exploring space so when the zombie apocalypse happens we have a place to flee to and start a new civilization.

No offense to TK, I know it's your career and you are passionate about it.

for sure.

I mean, who cares the country is in a recession, people are being laid off like crazy, universities are losing funding and homes are being forclosed on at an all time high.

Lets spend a few billion more exploring space so when the zombie apocalypse happens we have a place to flee to and start a new civilization.

No offense to TK, I know it's your career and you are passionate about it.

I don't want to turn this into a political thread, as I fully believe that we need to focus on issues here in the US. However, NASA's ~17 billion dollar budget represented approximately 0.6% of the federal budget in 08.

17 billion dollars to NASA. Each year the US spends approximately 50 billion in funding scientific research at US universities and academic research facilities. Many more billions to the crashing auto industry (except Ford so far). Many many more billions in stimulus packages. I do not know the cost of the war in Iraq, and it's very hard to find a number for the cost online that isn't heavily biased one way or the other, but I'm sure that since '03, it's averaged more than that per year. And I won't even comment on the disgusting bloat in university spending (which is mostly a state-by-state thing anyway), but they never budget properly from what I've seen.

Frankly, I think science missions and unmanned missions of this type are the way to get biggest bang for the buck. When humans get involved, it gets exponentially more expensive.

/tk

We need to grab the list of advances we have thanks to NASA. It's a great way to point out how well spent this money actually is. And I don't mean Tang.

I don't want to turn this into a political thread, as I fully believe that we need to focus on issues here in the US. However, NASA's ~17 billion dollar budget represented approximately 0.6% of the federal budget in 08.

17 billion dollars to NASA. Each year the US spends approximately 50 billion in funding scientific research at US universities and academic research facilities. Many more billions to the crashing auto industry (except Ford so far). Many many more billions in stimulus packages. I do not know the cost of the war in Iraq, and it's very hard to find a number for the cost online that isn't heavily biased one way or the other, but I'm sure that since '03, it's averaged more than that per year. And I won't even comment on the disgusting bloat in university spending (which is mostly a state-by-state thing anyway), but they never budget properly from what I've seen.

Frankly, I think science missions and unmanned missions of this type are the way to get biggest bang for the buck. When humans get involved, it gets exponentially more expensive.

/tk
Let's not forget the billions in foreign aid.

We need to grab the list of advances we have thanks to NASA. It's a great way to point out how well spent this money actually is. And I don't mean Tang.

FYI: http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinfaq.htm#spinfaq12

Are Tang, Teflon, and Velcro NASA spinoffs?

Tang, Teflon, and Velcro, are not spinoffs of the Space Program. General Foods developed Tang in 1957, and it has been on supermarket shelves since 1959. In 1962, when astronaut John Glenn performed eating experiments in orbit, Tang was selected for the menu, launching the powdered drink’s heightened public awareness. NASA also raised the celebrity status of Teflon, a material invented for DuPont in 1938, when the Agency applied it to heat shields, space suits, and cargo hold liners. Velcro was used during the Apollo missions to anchor equipment for astronauts’ convenience in zero gravity situations. Although it is a Swiss invention from the 1940s, it has since been associated with the Space Program.

Tho, to be fair, until these things are popularized, they cost a lot because development and productions costs don't go down until something is mass produced.

SI

I think we should be spending billions more on space programs than financing some crazy chick who wants to have 20 kids.

More money for NASA, JPL and others, means more people they can hire, in my opinion.

Let's not forget the billions in foreign aid.

I think we should be spending billions more on space programs than financing some crazy chick who wants to have 20 kids.

More money for NASA, JPL and others, means more people they can hire, in my opinion.


United States federal budget - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.pngLet's not blow some things out of proportion. Foreign aid is around $20B- that's less than 1% of the budget, pretty much on par with NASA.

Military budget of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States)
Now, military... "For the 2009 fiscal year, the base budget rose to US$515.4 billion. Adding emergency discretionary spending and supplemental spending brings the sum to US$651.2 billion... As of 2009, the United States government is spending about $1 trillion annually on defense-related purposes... The recent invasions of Iraq (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq) and Afghanistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan) are largely funded through supplementary spending bills outside the Federal Budget, so they are not included in the military budget figures listed above."

Financial cost of the Iraq War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War)
So... "As of August 2008, around $550 billion has been spent based on estimates of current expenditure rates." And "According to a Congressional Budget Office (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Budget_Office) (CBO) report published in October 2007, the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion dollars by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money. The CBO estimated that of the $2.4 trillion long-term price tag for the war, about $1.9 trillion of that would be spent on Iraq."

The military- now that's some serious scratch.

SI

rather than spending billions blowing each other up and competing for scarce resources on this one rock, I'd rather make global progress towards getting off this planet. that way when we have a mass-extinction event there will still be something left...otherwise we might as well all just give up now and sit around scratching our assholes.

rather than spending billions blowing each other up and competing for scarce resources on this one rock, I'd rather make global progress towards getting off this planet. that way when we have a mass-extinction event there will still be something left...otherwise we might as well all just give up now and sit around scratching our assholes.

Hey, I agree. I'm just trying to put some perspective on things. This is like the conversation I had with someone the other day who thought increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol would help the government raise enough money to offset a lot of the spending we've been doing.

SI

Less smoking and less scratching assholes and more rocket talk please.

Oh I know you agree SI. Was just making a general statement, and using your $$-figures regarding military spending.

That money should be spent on sports sims, IMO.

United States federal budget - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.pngLet's not blow some things out of proportion. Foreign aid is around $20B- that's less than 1% of the budget, pretty much on par with NASA.


Exactly billions. That could double what NASA gets.

Now if we can only get people to stop sending money for charities that benefit other countries, so we can get our on issues resolved before dealing with other countries problems (such as the (red) chartiy and many others). I'm all for helping out other counties but we have enough problems here we should resolve before we start trying to save the world.

Anyway back to space talk.

for sure.

I mean, who cares the country is in a recession, people are being laid off like crazy, universities are losing funding and homes are being forclosed on at an all time high.

Lets spend a few billion more exploring space so when the zombie apocalypse happens we have a place to flee to and start a new civilization.

No offense to TK, I know it's your career and you are passionate about it.

Well, I'm pretty sure the space program employs a bunch of people. So it's not like it's money just being thrown away.

That money should be spent on sports sims, IMO.


Exactly billions. That could double what the NFL gets from EA.

This is like the conversation I had with someone the other day who thought increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol would help the government raise enough money to offset a lot of the spending we've been doing.

Let me guess. Non-smoker, Non-drinker?

I say we tax Chuckles. Greedy f'n Chuckle eaters. Even give you a 15% tax break if you eat the black ones just so they don't find their way into our landfills.

Let me guess. Non-smoker, Non-drinker?

I say we tax Chuckles. Greedy f'n Chuckle eaters. Even give you a 15% tax break if you eat the black ones just so they don't find their way into our landfills.

Not smoker but a drinker. Frankly, I'm all for sin taxes- I've already said that in some thread here over the past couple of days, including a $2 per gallon gas tax (tho not necessarily during a recession), since that actually causes people to change their behaviors. (As an aside, I don't think drinking has nearly enough of a stigma as it is in this country- sure, I enjoy the occasional drink and don't think it should be banned- but drunkenness should be nowhere near the acceptable level it is and is one of the more damaging forces in this country socially.)

More to this point, sin taxes already pay for a lot of state health care, smokes are already taxed $1+ in more than half of the states (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_taxes_in_the_United_States), and they just don't generate that much revenue. Sure, you can make a couple billion here and there- that's big money individuals or even local government, but, really, it's not like a 500% tax on smokes and alcohol does anything but raise some short term capital and explode the black markets, which generate no tax revenue anyways.

SI

Not smoker but a drinker. Frankly, I'm all for sin taxes- I've already said that in some thread here over the past couple of days, including a $2 per gallon gas tax

Well, at least you are for taxing something that you do so, at least I can respect that. I'm not a big fan of people that point fingers at something they don't do and ask for that to be taxed while conveniently ignoring all of their habits.

(To clarify, I meant that the person suggesting this is not a smoker but is a drinker. Tho, I also said I am similar further down. That said, I don't drink very often so it wouldn't mean much to me like it would some people)

SI

I'm all for an extra tax on sports sims.

Well, at least you are for taxing something that you do so, at least I can respect that. I'm not a big fan of people that point fingers at something they don't do and ask for that to be taxed while conveniently ignoring all of their habits.I'm not generally a fan of sin taxes either, but as long as I'm forced to subsidize other people's health care, I support jacking them up exponentially.

As for NASA, I'd say that funding is pretty much irrelevant until they can finish changing the culture and administrative people there.