Is ISS worth $3 billion per year?

reply to post by boymonkey74


That's what ISS stands for. I didn't mention America.

Originally posted by boymonkey74
reply to post by cloudyday

 

Why will it never happen?
If you look at the Nasa link above it isn't just about what space does to the body, we can study the earth in much better ways, it's about chemistry, physic's loads of different science's.

I looked at the links you provided from ESA and JAXA and to be honest it seemed even sillier than I expected. I'm not a scientist, but it just looks like someone saying "we have this ISS so what can we do with it to justify its existence"

And the manned Mars mission I guess who knows on that. I never thought the U.S. would invade Iraq, so what do I know. Going to Mars would be smarter than invading Iraq, but that isn't saying much.

Originally posted by cloudyday
I was looking at this NASA budget overview and was surprised that ISS costs almost $3 billion per year. If NASA really wants to free-up some money to search for life on Mars, they could arrange an "accident" and plunge it into the ocean. I don't know what we are learning from ISS at this point.

www.nasa.gov...

Is search for life on Mars a better use of money? We already sent probes there, with another one on the way. Manned station in low orbit outweights even more probes to mars, IMHO.

Thats not to say that ISS program is ideal, the amount of time and money spent on it is too much for such a station. Hopefully commercial launchers and inflatable modules will make future stations cheaper and faster.

In relation to your thread title I believe it is a total waste of money. You are only told what they want you to know and while we are at it i believe that an equal amount should be spent on those that live in the regions of the planet where poverty famine and illness runs riot.

We shoot for the stars expecting access to the heavens yet forgetting its one for all and one for all.
Bet God's well impressed.

yes because it is a human relic and testament to what is possible.

we have humans in space. we are aliens. worth $3 billion of fake money a year if you ask me.

Just to point out that 3 billion seems like small change in the grand scale of things, also remember that the experiments done up there can really benifit mankind.

Yes we need to sort out problems on earth but what better way to unite us all as a specie than space travel.

Oh and I bet God is really impressed, impressed with our intelligence and impressed with our need to explore the unknown.

Here is one of the results of ISS research:

Osteoporosis drug prevents bone loss in astronauts

Very important finding for any long-term spaceflights.

Originally posted by Lee78
In relation to your thread title I believe it is a total waste of money. You are only told what they want you to know and while we are at it i believe that an equal amount should be spent on those that live in the regions of the planet where poverty famine and illness runs riot.

We shoot for the stars expecting access to the heavens yet forgetting its one for all and one for all.
Bet God's well impressed.

I agree with that, except I think foreign aid should only go to nations with stable healthy governments. Many poor countries have famines because they have wars raging or terrible governments (like North Korea). I suppose many of those wars are caused by the cynical efforts of developed countries to assure access to natural resources or whatever.

Another thing I think: poverty isn't about money; it's about quality of life. A native living in the Amazon jungle might not have any money, but he might have a higher quality of life than most Americans.

reply to post by cloudyday


I have a simple reply to that.

We all share the same address. The only thing stopping us all helping each other is money and those profiting, one day soon though that will all change. When i say soon i mean soon because they know the clock is ticking.

Originally posted by Lee78
reply to post by cloudyday

 

I have a simple reply to that.

We all share the same address. The only thing stopping us all helping each other is money and those profiting, one day soon though that will all change. When i say soon i mean soon because they know the clock is ticking.

I just think money is a small part of the solution, and money won't work unless there is a good government. Also a "poor" person who has enough food and reasonable health may be "wealthy" because he knows his place in his traditional society. A "rich" person who has stuff may be "poor" because he doesn't know his place in a modern society. So we might "develop" a poor country and make those people worse off. Why are there so many social and psychological problems in a modern society? I think it is because people evolved to be hunter gatherers in small tribes.

Originally posted by Maslo
Here is one of the results of ISS research:

Osteoporosis drug prevents bone loss in astronauts

Very important finding for any long-term spaceflights.

... And in the longer term, for people on Earth if a drug could prevent Osteoporosis in old age.

Tell you what, i'll give you $3,600 for it, and thats my final offer
I need some extra garage space.

reply to post by Insomniac


True, that's a good one.
Athur c. clarkes answer was to spin the station, shame both NASA and ESA not to mention the Russians, all missed that one
I guess if we can recycle enough Toyota's, we could build a complete ring structure, like you're supposed to.....

Is the 1 Trillion dollar, profit induced overhead on Health insurance worth it???

Originally posted by playswithmachines
reply to post by Insomniac

 

True, that's a good one.
Athur c. clarkes answer was to spin the station, shame both NASA and ESA not to mention the Russians, all missed that one

I guess if we can recycle enough Toyota's, we could build a complete ring structure, like you're supposed to.....

edit on 30-12-2011 by playswithmachines because: Afterthought

I suppose NASA wants to torture the astronauts by making them sweat on that treadmill for hours every day without giving them a change of underwear. (You know they wear the same underwear all week, because they can't do laundry and the underwear launch costs are so high.)

reply to post by cloudyday


I would take several pairs, just in case we had a 'first contact'
And some deodorant.

Here's a good article about the ISS.

ISS makes new discoveries about living in space

The ISS is important for figuring out how to live and work in space for any decent length of time and they've already made some important discoveries. I don't doubt that many more discoveries will be made in the coming years.

reply to post by jra


It still doesn't mean it is worth it.

The ISS shut have it's funding cut - if people like you want to donate out of your own pocket then that should be allowed and encouraged. Parts purchased with substantial donations could have names laser-etched on a non-functional surface, or something.