3 ms·

I used to be a NASA holdout but we’re at a point—we have been for a while now—where NASA is lagging the private sector on essentially every axis. We don’t need

by dcow 1y ago

I used to be a NASA holdout but we’re at a point—we have been for a while now—where NASA is lagging the private sector on essentially every axis. We don’t need the government to kickstart space exploration anymore. Would the average person today think it a good use of public funds to put people on mars?

burkaman 1y ago
> Would the average person today think it a good use of public funds to put people on mars? Yes, support for public funding of NASA has only been increasing for the last 50 years: https://news.gallup.com/poll/260309/years-moon-landing-support-space-program-high.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/260309/years-moon-landing-suppo.... > NASA is lagging the private sector on essentially every axis What private companies are ahead of NASA in designing and running space telescopes and other fundamental scientific research? You can see a list of active scientific missions here: https://science.nasa.gov/science-missions/#all-missions https://science.nasa.gov/science-missions/#all-missions. What private companies are currently operating rovers somewhere besides Earth? What private companies are monitoring for solar storms and providing advance warning to power grid operators on Earth?
taylodl 1y ago
It took the private sector 60 years to catch up to where NASA was, using the technology NASA developed. Everybody and his brother has a launch vehicle - that's no longer a differentiator. NASA is the entity building telescopes, rovers, explorers, and space weather satellites. The private sector isn't building any of that stuff. They're largely focused on joy rides to space and being NASA's pack mule.
Reubachi 1y ago
What has the private industry done for space exploration and research in the last 20 years? Hint: Perfecting Rocket boosters and LEO satellites for commercial use are not tenants of NASA and the reasoning should be obvious. Research is rarely sexy, and it being "space based" won't get it on TV with 8k cameras attached. We DO NOT want that. Private commercial entities trying to inflate stock and consumer opinion want that.
mcphage 1y ago
> We don’t need the government to kickstart space exploration anymore. Oh, the government still funds space exploration. That’s still where most of the money comes from. It’s just, the government (and by extension, we the people) no longer owns the results of that funding. It’s instead owned by a handful of billionaires that are attempting to own everything.

by dcow 1y ago

burkaman 1y ago

> Would the average person today think it a good use of public funds to put people on mars? Yes, support for public funding of NASA has only been increasing for the last 50 years: https://news.gallup.com/poll/260309/years-moon-landing-support-space-program-high.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/260309/years-moon-landing-suppo.... > NASA is lagging the private sector on essentially every axis What private companies are ahead of NASA in designing and running space telescopes and other fundamental scientific research? You can see a list of active scientific missions here: https://science.nasa.gov/science-missions/#all-missions https://science.nasa.gov/science-missions/#all-missions. What private companies are currently operating rovers somewhere besides Earth? What private companies are monitoring for solar storms and providing advance warning to power grid operators on Earth?

taylodl 1y ago

It took the private sector 60 years to catch up to where NASA was, using the technology NASA developed. Everybody and his brother has a launch vehicle - that's no longer a differentiator. NASA is the entity building telescopes, rovers, explorers, and space weather satellites. The private sector isn't building any of that stuff. They're largely focused on joy rides to space and being NASA's pack mule.

Reubachi 1y ago

What has the private industry done for space exploration and research in the last 20 years? Hint: Perfecting Rocket boosters and LEO satellites for commercial use are not tenants of NASA and the reasoning should be obvious. Research is rarely sexy, and it being "space based" won't get it on TV with 8k cameras attached. We DO NOT want that. Private commercial entities trying to inflate stock and consumer opinion want that.

mcphage 1y ago

> We don’t need the government to kickstart space exploration anymore. Oh, the government still funds space exploration. That’s still where most of the money comes from. It’s just, the government (and by extension, we the people) no longer owns the results of that funding. It’s instead owned by a handful of billionaires that are attempting to own everything.