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Yes, and this is where the program failed. It was based on the assumption that the taxpayers would think, "The failure of a $100 million mission is more easily borne than the failure of a $1 billion mission." Rather, the taxpayers think, "More missions are failing than used to -- NASA is losing its edge."
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I would add that most taxpayers really don't understand the difference between millions and billions, either. They are just HUGE sums of money, in taxpayers eyes.
Relatedly,
NASA's budget has been roughly
0.85% of the Federal budget... last year it was about 14 billion. If a major project goes overbudget or wastes a billion dollars, that is about
0.06% of the Federal budget. But "we" hear this colossal number "ONE BILLION DOLLARS" and freak out...
So when a mission costing "HUNDREDS" of millions of dollars goes bust, it's seems immesurably huge... even if it is a fraction of the previously mentioned "ONE BILLION."
CJSF