Obama - Hey, let’s land astronauts on an asteroid

[ericire12]

Back to the original story:

Did they show Armageddon on Air Force One on his way to Florida?  It is not bad to have dreams and goals, but what is his reasoning behind this new venture of trying to hit a moving target?

Thank you. That was my point originally. If we are gonna spend all this money lets atleast give all the great minds at NASA a goal worthy of their greatness. Landing on an asteroid is probably one of the stupidest ideas they could come up with. I'm betting this is something handed down from a think tank inside the administration, not a NASA derived project. Jeez, sounds like the smartest guy in the room was probably just a community organizer.

[mudman]

All B S to distract the worker bees.

[ericire12]

All B S to distract the worker bees.

Nope.... Its an attempt to buy Florida voters

[deepwater]

ASTRO GLIDE!!!!!  another NASA success! 
(just thought I'd point that out)
deepwater

[tombogan03884]

JNevis raises a great point. The mathematics and maneuverability required to actually land on something like an asteroid would open the door (coupled with an advanced propulsion system ) to actual Sci Fi style navigation (Astrogation ).
Here are 3 things to think about, and comment on.  (FQ, This means YOU    )
1 -  Besides the physical benefits of new materials and technologies, "the space program" provides a horizon for the the dreamers and adventurers. The entire "age of exploration" took place because humanity is like a gas or virus, it spreads to fill the available space, and the best method of assuring survival of the "tribe" is by dispersal to other "host bodies". There are people who just need to know what's over the next hill.  I actually blame the stagnation of America on the loss of "New Frontiers" to explore.
2 - Water Borne Trade started with floating down the Nile , it spread to the Mediterranean, Traders and Captains wanted greater range and speed. This lead them  first, across the Med itself, then, into, and eventually across the Atlantic.
The basic lesson seems to be that trade spreads. In order to continue to grow industry needs to continuously open new markets. There are darn few if any new markets left on the planet. An organism like humanity can only do 3 things , Grow, Stagnate,(which will lead to decline and death) or die. Trade is the same way so in order to continue on our accustomed path we need to begin planting consuming colonies either under the sea (which is good practice for Space ) Or in Space
3 - Should Govt fund the space program ? I have to say less, I think that modern technologies and materials make it time to remove the "burden" from Govt. and pure Science and hand it over to private funds and industry.
I get far more thrill from a project like "Space Ship One" than I do another Shuttle launch.

[Sponsor]

[Texas_Bryan]

There's no where for us to go, even if we wanted to go anywhere.  NASA should be scaled back to unmanned operations and not concern itself with happenings beyond Luna.

[tombogan03884]

There's no where for us to go, even if we wanted to go anywhere.  NASA should be scaled back to unmanned operations and not concern itself with happenings beyond Luna.

They used to say the world was flat and if you went past "The Pillars of Hercules" you would fall off the edge based on exactly the same type of scientific observation.

[Texas_Bryan]

They used to say the world was flat and if you went past "The Pillars of Hercules" you would fall off the edge based on exactly the same type of scientific observation.

Where to than boss?  And how do we get there?  And why?  The space program, I believe, offers many benefits, but you'll never see more than a few travelers about the vacuum.  And how does that improve our lives?

[Timothy]

To qoute a valiant space traveler!

'TO INFINITY, ANY BEYOND!'

 

Personally, I don't care much about Mars, I prefer Snickers!

[ericire12]

All these things are great, but can all these pie in the sky asteroid missions be afforded in this current economic climate? Its the same as if it were a business with maxed out credit and that is on the verge of bankruptsy...... Should they be pourings gobs of cash into R&D for products/technology that wont really reach their full potential for decades?

Rome is burning, Nero.