James Webb space telescope getting axed?
Discussion
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/science/07webb.h...
For fk sake, America. What's $1.6bn really when you've already spent so much.
2 weeks in Afghanistan.
At least offer to sell it.
For fk sake, America. What's $1.6bn really when you've already spent so much.
2 weeks in Afghanistan.
At least offer to sell it.
Frankeh said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/science/07webb.h...
For fk sake, America. What's $1.6bn really when you've already spent so much.
2 weeks in Afghanistan.
At least offer to sell it.
For fk sake, America. What's $1.6bn really when you've already spent so much.
2 weeks in Afghanistan.
At least offer to sell it.
Link said:
In all, the committee proposed lopping $1.6 billion off NASA’s current budget, which is $18.4 billion for 2011. The Obama administration had originally requested $18.7 billion for NASA.
So they need the money they were told they were getting before starting to make cuts? Not a massive surprise.Really hope this doesn't get ditched. Hubble has given us so much information and is still in demand.
Eric Mc said:
I bloody well hope not.
If it is axed, the US can say goodbye to being at the forefront of scientific research and development.
Move over the US. China - you're in charge now.
US manned spaceflight ends very soon too. I just hope the private sector can pick up the ball and run with it: go go Elon Musk (stupid name, but we share a dream )If it is axed, the US can say goodbye to being at the forefront of scientific research and development.
Move over the US. China - you're in charge now.
Oh do fk off, why don't you just shut-down NASA and be done with. I can understand them cutting back on un-realised future projects and the like but the Webb telescope is nearly there and it's a big halo project, just look at what Hubble has given us! I really hope someone wises up with this and it goes through. What else are NASA spending their $18.4 billion on?
If it's mostly built what happens to it? Knowing America and NASA it'll probably rot in a corner somewhere. They really are completely blowing aren't they? I don't mind changes and cuts being made for the good and NASA does seem to have become a somewhat bloated and overly bureaucratic organisation but you really cant be cutting stuff like this. If you're going to get rid, make sure there's a better replacement.
Oakey said:
speechless really.
Why? What good does it do when the US Treasury has effectively run out of money and is staring default down the barrel of a gun? If they pay for this, and all the other cushy little timeserving jobs at NASA, what should they cut instead (on top of the cuts that are already coming). Schools, hospitals, cancer research? What?I've always thought astrology is a complete waste of money. It's an interesting enough diversion or hobby I suppose but nobody has ever managed to explain to me how it's going to benefit mankind. Who cares a fig about the moon around uranus (your anus, geddit?) when the alternative is immediate fiscal and economic meltdown?
Well, according to Prof Brian Cox NASA is a good investment:
To those who say that USA can't afford #JWST and Shuttles, remember that NASA costs less than 0.13% of GDP and 9x return on investment
He offers references for those figures too.
Another interesting couple of comparisons by BC (bearing in mind the ROI above):
In fact, the entire Shuttle Program cost approximately the same as the UK bank bailout, and we found the money for that
And this is not a political statement, but the Iraq conflict so far has cost significantly more than a manned mission to Mars
http://abstrusegoose.com/377
To those who say that USA can't afford #JWST and Shuttles, remember that NASA costs less than 0.13% of GDP and 9x return on investment
He offers references for those figures too.
Another interesting couple of comparisons by BC (bearing in mind the ROI above):
In fact, the entire Shuttle Program cost approximately the same as the UK bank bailout, and we found the money for that
And this is not a political statement, but the Iraq conflict so far has cost significantly more than a manned mission to Mars
http://abstrusegoose.com/377
Andy Zarse said:
I've always thought astrology is a complete waste of money. It's an interesting enough diversion or hobby I suppose but nobody has ever managed to explain to me how it's going to benefit mankind. Who cares a fig about the moon around uranus (your anus, geddit?) when the alternative is immediate fiscal and economic meltdown?
Er...Wiki said:
Technology—especially in aerospace engineering, electronics and telecommunication fields—advanced greatly during this period. However, the effects of the Space Race went far beyond rocketry, physics, and astronomy. "Space age technology" extended to fields as diverse as home economics[citation needed] and forest defoliation studies, and the push to win the race changed the very nature of science education.
American concerns that they had fallen behind the Soviet Union in the race to space led quickly to a push by legislators and educators for greater emphasis on mathematics and the physical sciences in American schools. The United States' National Defense Education Act of 1958 increased funding for these goals from childhood education through the post-graduate level. To this day over 1,200 American high schools retain their own planetarium installations, a situation unparalleled in any other country[citation needed] and a direct consequence of the Space Race[citation needed].
The scientists educated through these efforts helped develop technologies that have been adapted for use in the kitchen, in transportation systems, in athletics, and in many other areas of modern life. Dried fruits and ready-to-eat foods (in particular food sterilization and package sealing techniques), stay-dry clothing, and even no-fog ski goggles have their roots in space science.[
Today over a thousand artificial satellites orbit earth, relaying communications data around the planet and facilitating remote sensing of data on weather, vegetation, and human movements for the nations who employ them. In addition, much of the micro-technology that fuels everyday activities, from time-keeping to enjoying music, derives from research initially driven by the Space Race.[
American concerns that they had fallen behind the Soviet Union in the race to space led quickly to a push by legislators and educators for greater emphasis on mathematics and the physical sciences in American schools. The United States' National Defense Education Act of 1958 increased funding for these goals from childhood education through the post-graduate level. To this day over 1,200 American high schools retain their own planetarium installations, a situation unparalleled in any other country[citation needed] and a direct consequence of the Space Race[citation needed].
The scientists educated through these efforts helped develop technologies that have been adapted for use in the kitchen, in transportation systems, in athletics, and in many other areas of modern life. Dried fruits and ready-to-eat foods (in particular food sterilization and package sealing techniques), stay-dry clothing, and even no-fog ski goggles have their roots in space science.[
Today over a thousand artificial satellites orbit earth, relaying communications data around the planet and facilitating remote sensing of data on weather, vegetation, and human movements for the nations who employ them. In addition, much of the micro-technology that fuels everyday activities, from time-keeping to enjoying music, derives from research initially driven by the Space Race.[
Oakey said:
Andy Zarse said:
It's a total waste of money, they can't afford a luxury vanity like this silly telescope. Get real.
speechless really.Anyway, as someone said above if they don't go through with this then the US is going to lose out on a huge scientific asset.
They shut down the Texas collider before it was completed and look what happened there, us Europeans stepped in and funded our own one and now we're at the forefront of particle physics instead of the US.
I don't think it'll be China, but I wouldn't be surprised if us europeans don't take up the slack.
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