NASA's vision lost on Web generation

This article discusses how the 18-25 somethings of the US are indifferent to the new space program NASA proposes. In order to resolve this problem they plan on bringing in Jean Luke Picard and Fox Mulder to help resolve their little PR problem.



I am in the upper end of the 18-25 year old American demographic and I think the reason NASA's Moon and Mars missions aren't gaining much praise by the youth is because they distrust NASA on some level. They have been shown films like Men in Black, Starship Troopers, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc and most believe there is much NASA is hiding from the public.
Another reason I'm not interested in it is because I know I could never work on a project like that, since the competition is fierce and there are only a handful of people working on it. As far as I can see NASA will never tap the American people and most certainly not the American worker for it's endeavors so if they don't care about me, ... then I don't have to care about you, hence, indiffernce.

www.influxinsights.com...

[edit on 1-1-2007 by UM_Gazz]

Uhm... most people don't think anything of the sort. I think the real reason is members of the Egeneration are desensitized to the notion of life in space, and don't think there's anything really special about it. It has become common place and routine. Us nerds however know better.

I'm 1 of the 18-25 guys u talking about , and i know where the problems are up here in Europe !! Ppl up don't have a clue what spacetravel gave them !! The current tech. in use at home who came from spacetravel-R&D is huge!! And my idea to promote the coming Space adventure is pointing out the benefits of doing R&D in zerogravity and on other planets !! But i understand the public view also ! I cant understand they are racing again , its like the space race is starting again !! Why cant they go all together :
Imagine :

2 Spaceshuttles moving true space, a Joint ESA/RUSSIA and a Joint NASA/CHINA! Gliding to our nearest neighbour and colonizing mars in name of EARTH instead of the USA

I hope the US works with Europe, Russia, China, and whoever else wants to take part in it as a measure of good faith at the same time allowing all of us to conserve our resources. All potential partners should consider this to be the final frontier, or at least another great industry waiting to blossom.

Space has given us so much already such as our cell phones, cable/satelite tv, gps, etc. It is truely a cornucopia of opportunity for mankind.

Still NASA is distrusted by the youth of the US and for good reason, the more transparent and open NASA/other space programs can be the better the world will be. As far as I can see the more the world works together on space emdeavors the less we would/want to use war as a means of diplomacy.

The only reason we still have NASA, is because the defense department/pentagon "needs" the program...it has nothing to do with space exploration and marching into new frontiers, it has to do with weapons, defense, and strategic positioning...

Where is this idea coming from that the reason the younger generation is uninterested in space travel is because the majority of them think NASA is keeping secrets from them? That is so backwards it's laughable. If that were true, they would be MORE interested in space travel, not less.

I think part of the problem is that we don't have a space race. What I propose is that we challenge Russia, the ESA and China to a race to putting a man on Mars. It might not be resource efficent but it'll sure as hell motivate somebody. And then once somebody has successfully landed on Mars then we can all work together on the hard part of colonization. But still, America and much of the rest of the world thrives on competition, it's what our economy is based on.

I am in the upper end of the 18-25 year old American demographic and I think the reason NASA's Moon and Mars missions aren't gaining much praise by the youth is because they distrust NASA on some level. They have been shown films like Men in Black, Starship Troopers, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc and most believe there is much NASA is hiding from the public.

Most believe NASA is hiding something? I highly doubt that. Perhaps here on ATS, it's the majority, but out there in the real world, most people probably just don't pay too much attention to it because spaceflight has become more routine like apc mentioned.

I bet when commercial spaceflight opens up and becomes affordable for the 'average joe', you'll see an increase in public interest, because it would be new and different. But after a while that too would become common and routine like commercial aviation is today.

Another reason I'm not interested in it is because I know I could never work on a project like that, since the competition is fierce and there are only a handful of people working on it. As far as I can see NASA will never tap the American people and most certainly not the American worker for it's endeavors so if they don't care about me, ... then I don't have to care about you, hence, indiffernce.

So because you don't have the qualifications to work on space related projects, you are indifferent towards them? That's some odd thinking there. I myself have no engineering skills what so ever and I have no hope in being apart of any space related projects, yet I love to follow everything that's going on in that industry.

And what do you mean by, "there are only a handful of people working on it"? Working on what exactly? There are many people working on many projects. Some for NASA directly and most probably through contracted companies.

And again what do you mean by, "As far as I can see NASA will never tap the American people and most certainly not the American worker for it's endeavors..."? There are plenty of Americans that work for NASA and or contracted by them. Many aerospace companies like Lockheed or Boeing build things like rockets and satellites and what not. Where are you getting the idea that NASA doesn't employ many people nor Americans for that matter?

If you want to work on these sorts of things, study hard, learn to become a scientist or and engineer.

Still NASA is distrusted by the youth of the US and for good reason, the more transparent and open NASA/other space programs can be the better the world will be. As far as I can see the more the world works together on space emdeavors the less we would/want to use war as a means of diplomacy.

I really don't get where you think NASA is distrusted by the youth of the US. I really highly doubt that.

And for you information NASA is a very transparent and open agency. They put out tons of data on everything they do. Be it images from Mars or live feed from the ISS/Shuttle. It's not hard to find information on the projects that are being developed. All you have to do is look.

[edit on 1-1-2007 by jra]

[edit on 1-1-2007 by jra]

I think the majority of Americans do think NASA is lying to us on some level and here is the reasons why I believe that.

1. In the original article I posted (www.cnn.com...), "Ali Kuwait, 19, who is studying civil engineering at Brevard Community College, said he recently watched a clip on YouTube that made a convincing case that NASA's moon landings between 1969 and 1972 were faked. Repeating an old myth that NASA has not been able to kill, Kuwait said: "The moon thing was not real."
I agree with Ali on several levels even though I think NASA probably did land on the moon. I agree with him because he too believes NASA is lying.

2. Dan Aykroyd and others have stated that "71% believe our government is concealing the truth about UFOs."
www.sfindie.com...
And if our government does know something more about UFO's which agencies would know? NASA?

3. Fromthe National Security Archive,
"The CIA’s role in the application of science and technology to the art of intelligence is far less appreciated. Even an 800-page history of the agency, published in 1986, John Ranelagh’s The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA, included only a few references to the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology. However, the exploitation of science and technology has been a significant element of the CIA’s activities, almost since its creation. In 1962, it resulted in the creation of the Deputy Directorate of Research, which was succeeded in 1963 by the Deputy Directorate for Science and Technology (renamed the Directorate of Science and Technology in 1965)."
www.gwu.edu...

I think there is more to it than what we know.

[edit on 1-1-2007 by Low Orbit]

[edit on 1-1-2007 by Low Orbit]

Here's at least one study done in 1998 (pre-YouTube ) that disagrees.

people-press.org

The National Aeronautic and Space Administration, NASA
Very Favorable... 23
Mostly Favorable... 50
Mostly Unfavorable... 15
Very Unfavorable... 5
Never Heard Of... 1
Can't Rate... 6 =100

The survey was opened with:

INTRODUCTION: Hello, I am _____, calling for Princeton Survey Research Associates in Princeton, New Jersey.

We are conducting a telephone opinion survey for leading newspapers and TV stations around the country. I'd like to ask a few questions of the youngest male, 18 years of age or older, who is now at home. [IF NO MALE:] May I please speak with the oldest female, 18 years of age of older, who is now at home?

So, according to this study at least, you thought wrong.

[edit on 1-1-2007 by apc]

I'm in the lower art of that demographic, 18, and I'm not disinter-
ested in it.

I myself will most likely never physically work on building a project,
and honestly I would'nt want to, I'm more of a designer/politician.

I have a few doubts about NASA, but that does'nt mean I'm disin-
terested in Space exploration, indeed I advocate further funding
and projects for it.


The problem with people distrusting NASA, which honestly I doubt
is as prevalient as it's said to be, is people watch something that
they think is convincing that NASA is lieing, as in the moon landing
thing, now the big problewm is, that people don't than go research
answers, and thusly believe a con, and that NASA is lieing.

Originally posted by apc
Uhm... most people don't think anything of the sort. I think the real reason is members of the Egeneration are desensitized to the notion of life in space, and don't think there's anything really special about it. It has become common place and routine. Us nerds however know better.

I somewhat agree with this, however the popularity of shows such as Star Trek generally tracks the popularity of the space program.

I think it's just too soon for young people of today to get fascinated with. Sending men back to the moon in like over 10 years when we first did it in 1969 just doesn't seem that sexy. As we get closer to the missions launching, I think interest will definitely pick up and a manned mission to Mars would certainly capture the attention of all ages.

A Permanent moon base and moon mining would garner a fair amount of interest in the business community. If we go to Mars soon we gotta do it like NASA plans for the Moon currently. Go there to stay and set ambitious goals(like Terraforming) to get the publics interest.

Personally I believe that interest will tick up large when we find the first habitable planet outside our solar system. Life on Mars just isn't good enough now. Things like the prospect of Colonization in Sol or outside of it will be huge press and money makers this century methinks.

[edit on 1-1-2007 by sardion2000]

When NASA stop lying to us, when NASA stops cutting and cutting manned flights spending to the bone, when NASA stop treating the world as babies, when NASA stop being government stooges and start developing some mental metal to tell the truth AND show us the truth, then, and only then, will young people give a damn about any thing NASA say or do.


NASA are government shills through and through, and couldn't tell the truth even if it was the truth or the firing squad. they would die with lies on their lips.


And they say we need to pay an interest in the pure and UTTER BS they peddle??

NASA< take your BS and go swing in the breeze with it.

I highly doubt the majority of the so-called Ipod generation or EGeneration share your opinion. Just reading Digg(which is far more representative of the IPod Generation then ATS is) will show you that. Most of those objecting to space spending are those that:

A. Do not realize the Economic potential and have a "Been there done that, bought the T-Shirt" attitude, and B. Feel that the money is best spent sending food, clothes and medicine to those in need. (Completely ignoring that most of that stuff gets hoarded by so-called "Aid" agencies and that most of the stuff will never get to where the donators originally intended)

[edit on 1-1-2007 by sardion2000]

It is true that sending people to the moon has lost its sense of wonder because we have been there done that. The best way to generate to both financial and personal interest would be to make greater use of the private sector. International diplomacy will also play an important part in managing the Space Race.

I think you nailed it in your initial post, Low Orbit.

The indifference is largely due to the fact Nasa's 'vision' doesn't include the overwhelming majority of the US population, unless you count footing the bill. Until there starts to be some realistic potential to open up space travel/tourism to the everyday citizen, the public is going to be indifferent. The only reason it took off in the 60s and 70s is because people thought we'd be an awful lot further along by now than we are.

Thank you vor, I agree with you too, but for the others that want more proof what better evidence of deception is there other than the governments own documents from the National Security Archive that state, "However, the exploitation of science and technology has been a significant element of the CIA’s activities, almost since its creation."

www.gwu.edu...

The way I see it is everything in the US comes second to national security and its agencies such as the FBI and the CIA, even science and technology. The above quoted paper is evidence of this. Personally, I believe it has been like this since WW2. Often times the public gets watered down versions of science and technology while the feds have the real info. Hence, the public gets NASA and the space shuttle and the feds get their own space shuttle with its own capabilities along with the aurora which is a hypersonic plane(u2 replacement).
The people that don't believe NASA is lying probably have complete faith in the FBI and CIA too.

But you weren't arguing that NASA is hiding anything. You were arguing that "most people" believe that. You were mistaken. The rest is irrelevant.

Depends which poll you look at. Just because you found one poll to go against my 3 sources dont think you are all of a sudden on the high horse of knowledge.

Find 2 more sources to go against my 3 sources then we will compare.