10-December-2008, 05:37 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Earth, Solar System, Orion spur, Orion Arm, Milky Way galaxy, Local Group
Posts: 935
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HypothesisTesting
I don't think the federal govt. is serious about space flight any longer. I agree with the intrepid RCH there. But I part company with him when he talks about an off-budget "dark mission" .
I watched the moon missions in high school, and it's been all downhill since then, except for Voyager, Cassini, and Mars Rovers , which are pretty important. But how much teeth pulling did the involved scientists have to do to even get those funded? Where is President Kennedy literally pushing NASA on, regularly making photo ops big launches, having ticker-tape parades for astronauts like WWII heroes, Rose Garden ceremonies for them? Where is vice president Johnson holding "Texas style" barbecues for the Mercury 7? Where are those days 
This year marks the 50th anniversary of lunar exploration, so the "space baby" is now 50 and old enough to join the senior club. Could it be that the novelty is wearing off for the politicians who really just used the scientists for political purposes all along any way? |
I know for a fact that Cassini was on the chopping block on more than one occasion and the only thing that saved it from Congress was the addition of the European Huygens probe. The mission became untouchable to the bean counters after that.
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