Re: [Utah-astronomy] NASA Lost the Right Stuff?
Good quote Kurt, Science and Research inspire and benefit citizens. Profitability is a poor measure of the value of Science, government funding is needed for it to thrive. It would be a shame if tax policy kills NASA, not to mention what it would do to some Utah companies. --- canopus56@yahoo.com wrote: From: Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy List Serv <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] NASA Lost the Right Stuff? Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 11:10:04 -0700 (PDT) My light non-scientific reading for the summer was Randy Pausch's popular swan-song, _The Last Lecture_. The following quote at p. 131 succintly captured, for me, the role of the Apollo program and big science in general, in the public mind: "Men first walked on the moon during the summer of 1969, when I was eight years old. I knew then that pretty much anything was possible. It was as if all of us, all over the world, had been given permission to dream big dreams." - Kurt P.S. - Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the first day that NASA began operations - that is the first day of the 1958 federal fiscal year. The other 50th NASA birthday, celebrated earlier this year, was July 29, 1958, the date that Eisenhower signed the NASA organic act. Yesterday's APOD showing the Bumper V-2 launch from Cape Canaveral July, 1950: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081001.html _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Harnessing electricity, light bulbs, telephones, microwaves, computers, .. well I won't list all the technology that science (not funded by the goverment) has provided. Compare the advances in computer technology against those made by NASA. Back when man first went to the moon, a computer took an entire room. These days we carry them around. If NASA were making the same sort of progress that private industry has made, we'd be colonizing Mars by now. Another example? Stem cell research. Just last month scientists made a huge leap forward in a cure for Type I diabetes by reprogramming pancreatic cells in mice to produce insulin. These scientists are funded by private parties, not the US goverment. So were most of the life-saving drugs on the market today. Unfortunately with goverment agencies, there's too much red tape, politics, bureaucracy and personal agendas that get in the way. I think the lack of progress that NASA has made since the '60s is a perfect example of this. Private companies are more driven to suceed because they have to or they die. I'm happy to see Spacex's efforts towards making space exploration commonplace. Who knows maybe a little competition might breathe new life into NASA. On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 1:05 PM, <zaurak@digis.net> wrote:
Good quote Kurt, Science and Research inspire and benefit citizens. Profitability is a poor measure of the value of Science, government funding is needed for it to thrive. It would be a shame if tax policy kills NASA, not to mention what it would do to some Utah companies.
--- canopus56@yahoo.com wrote:
From: Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy List Serv <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] NASA Lost the Right Stuff? Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 11:10:04 -0700 (PDT)
My light non-scientific reading for the summer was Randy Pausch's popular swan-song, _The Last Lecture_. The following quote at p. 131 succintly captured, for me, the role of the Apollo program and big science in general, in the public mind:
"Men first walked on the moon during the summer of 1969, when I was eight years old. I knew then that pretty much anything was possible. It was as if all of us, all over the world, had been given permission to dream big dreams."
- Kurt
P.S. - Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the first day that NASA began operations - that is the first day of the 1958 federal fiscal year. The other 50th NASA birthday, celebrated earlier this year, was July 29, 1958, the date that Eisenhower signed the NASA organic act.
Yesterday's APOD showing the Bumper V-2 launch from Cape Canaveral July, 1950: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081001.html
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
-- Julie Chorley
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zaurak＠digis.net