The President's Space Initiative Speech

In article hPiNb.67808$na.39439@attbi_s04,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I caught most of it -- and it was fantastic! To hear a president actually
promoting manned space travel, and laying out a plausible, doable plan to
get our space program back on track, was a breath of fresh air on a bleak
and dreary January day.

Hell, maybe we'll set foot on Mars before I die after all?

I often tell my children how the U.S. once led the world in space travel,
and of how my generation grew up with the excitement and national pride of
putting a man on the moon. Until today, I would also sadly explain to them
how we had squandered our future, and abandoned the dream...

Well, President Bush has today put us back on track. As pilots (I like to
call what we do "extremely low earth orbit... :-) let's get the phone calls
and emails rolling to our elected representatives, and tell 'em to get on
board this new initiative!



I think that we need to do SOMETHING to stem the evaporation of our
aerospace tachnical talent pool. I think that GWB and his staff realize
this and are proposing the program to stem that loss.

Other possibilities:

1. It will help to obtain the capability of intercepting and redirecting
Earth-intersecting asteroids. (The Wall Street Journal today has an
excellent editorial on this benefit.) Yes, it IS costly -- BUT the cost
of NOT doing it may be extinction of all life on Earth.

2. MAybe NASA has discovered some alien artifacts or signs of activity
on the Moon or Mars.

3. We may be Martians -- the progeny of long-ago refugees from Martian
asteroid collisions.

If the Apollo program cost 100B 35 yrs ago it would easily cost over 1
Trillion today. It could easily be ten times that much (or more). Last
time (apollo) the technology was already there (chemical rockets for ICBMs).
We need to fix the national balance sheet over the next 20 yrs before
embarking on this adventure.

Mike
MU-2


"plumb bob" wrote in message
news:4RnNb.70198$na.40677@attbi_s04...
"Morgans" wrote in message
...

So how much per person per year is it going to cost? Pass the plate.
I'll
pay my share.

I'm guessing a minimum of $1 Trillion over 20 years. The Apollo project
cost
$100 billion as far as I recall. The Bush I project, which was nixed, had
a
cost estimate of $500 billion. Therefore, I do not believe $1 Trillion is
unrealistic.

There are 130 million individual tax returns filed every year. Individual
tax revenue trumps corporate tax revenue 5:1 (go find the IRS tax stats).
In
other words, corporations don't pay much tax at all. It's basically going
to
be all on us to foot the bill.

$1 Trillion / 130 million = $7,700 per taxpayer.

Over 20 years = $7,700 / 20 = $385 every year, MINIMUM. And that is
assuming
that NASA sticks to budget (this would be a government programme so that
is
quite unrealistic)

I do not want to pay that money until

a) terrorism is defeated
b) we can get health care coverage at least as good as any other 3rd world
country
c) we are running a surplus
d) a balanced budget is guaranteed

Not to mention that Bush does not have a clue how much it will really
cost.
He does not care - it's not his money. He just needs this to win an
election.

-- Plumb Bob

Do YOU want to pay for it? How about privatizing all the airports to pay
for it? A $5 gallon tax on fuel? There really is no upside to doing this.
We are already overspending at a rate that is unsustainable.

Mike
MU-2


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:HMmNb.69238$xy6.127599@attbi_s02...
Unmanned space programs accomplish much more at a fraction of the
cost.

Everyone seems to think of this as a zero-sum game, that we can EITHER
spend
it on manned exploration, OR on un-manned exploration.

Trouble is, NASA's budget is controlled by politicians who respond to
their
constituents. Unmanned exploration is about as exciting as studying for
the
instrument written, and excites precisely ZERO enthusiasm (the current,
rare -- and extraordinary -- Mars lander notwithstanding.).

Witness the failed "faster, cheaper, better" strategy that was forced upon
NASA by continual budget cut-backs -- cut-backs that were forced upon them
because their programs were lifeless, computerized, and boring. Without
"man" in the equation, NASA is just another yawn.

I submit that if we don't give NASA the mission of manned space
exploration,
their budget will continue to be whittled away, and even LESS will be
accomplished in the long run. Man belongs in space.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I think that we need to do SOMETHING to stem the evaporation of our
aerospace tachnical talent pool. I think that GWB and his staff
realize this and are proposing the program to stem that loss.

Bush plans on outsourcing the "tachnical talent" (sic) from India...

http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=20166

Just remember this come election time...

See 'Bush's Space Program' posted on alt.binaries.pictures.aviation...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hPiNb.67808$na.39439@attbi_s04...
I caught most of it -- and it was fantastic! To hear a president
actually
promoting manned space travel, and laying out a plausible, doable plan to
get our space program back on track, was a breath of fresh air on a bleak
and dreary January day.

in article t, Mike
Rapoport at wrote on 1/14/04 7:51 PM:

If the Apollo program cost 100B 35 yrs ago it would easily cost over 1
Trillion today.

The figure I have seen quoted most often for the total cost of the Apollo
program is 25 billion dollars (I have researched it a bit, and this figure
is used quite consistently). That amount is usually translated as roughly
100 billion in today's dollars (again, this is from multiple sources). That
works out to roughly 10 billion dollars-per-year over the life of the Apollo
program, using today's dollars.

Consider that the 2003 Federal Budget for human space flight was 14.2
billion dollars. So the question becomes: is the money already budgeted? Is
it adequate to accomplish what the President is proposing? This assumes that
all current resources are re-directed towards the new proposals.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:krlNb.68069$I06.307311@attbi_s01...
I think Bush is comatose. You see him as a genius. Therefore one of us
is
a
fool and I think that you are it.

No, he's no genius. But he does have that "vision thing" when it comes to
space exploration

Come on Jay, he said a man on the moon by 2020. That's 16 years by my math.
We did it the first time in less than a decade having never been there
before. Besides, NASA is in such a mess they probably have a hard time
completing a mission to the nearest 7-11.

-- something this nation (and the world) is sorely
lacking.

Now it'll be up to your kind to kill the dream again.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Mike Rapoport" wrote

Yes, the real question is: What do we have to give up to get this new
space
program? How about Medicare? The cost if about the same. Lets have a
vote! Do you want Medicare or a Mars program. It is foolish to ask
someone whether or not they want something unless you tell them what it
will
cost. Several years ago it was decided that technology wasn't ready for
the
Nationaly Aerospace Plane. I guess that since it is an election year, all
that must have changed. Too bad Teddy Roosevelt isn't running this time.

Mike

So how much per person per year is it going to cost? Pass the plate. I'll
pay my share.
--
Jim in NC

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hPiNb.67808$na.39439@attbi_s04...
I caught most of it -- and it was fantastic! To hear a president
actually
promoting manned space travel, and laying out a plausible, doable plan to
get our space program back on track, was a breath of fresh air on a bleak
and dreary January day.

Hell, maybe we'll set foot on Mars before I die after all?

I often tell my children how the U.S. once led the world in space travel,
and of how my generation grew up with the excitement and national pride of
putting a man on the moon. Until today, I would also sadly explain to
them
how we had squandered our future, and abandoned the dream...

Well, President Bush has today put us back on track. As pilots (I like to
call what we do "extremely low earth orbit... :-) let's get the phone
calls
and emails rolling to our elected representatives, and tell 'em to get on
board this new initiative!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Yes, I have to agree. As I said in another post, this program and
Afghanistan are the only 2 things Bush has gotten right as president.
Although I consider myself a "compassionate libertarian", I voted for Reagan
in 84 instead of Wally and the Beaver because Reagan supported the space
station. Space exploration should be our number one priority.

However, in my opinion, the main reason why Bush is doing this is because
the Chinese have already announced that they are going to the moon. Bush
(or at least those who tell him what to do) know that once we fall behind in
space we are finished as a player in world affairs, and probably finished as
a free country.

Earl G.

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 00:48:16 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:


Now it'll be up to your kind to kill the dream again.

They will fail. Were not going to let them kill it this time.
No fricking way. I have been following space efforts
a long time now. Ive waited a long time for this.
Its different this time. I can feel it in my gut.
Dont worry, their are millions of us ready to support this
endeavour. Get ready to go to work and start pushing
hard and let congress and the senate know. Join
National Space Society, Join the Planetary Society.
Donate space books to schools.

The critics must understand one thing............

The cost is greater if we *do not* explore space.
We would be denying what we are, we would deny fundamental
truths of human nature to explore.

I submit that *that* cost is too high to pay,

we all know where that road leads. We must explore, excercise those
muscles, push outward and accept challenges. Great risks and
challenges bring great rewards. As pilots that should be obvious.

President Bush is right. I agree with everything he said
today, his speech spelled it out perfectly and Im going to help in
whatever way I can. And I do not stand alone. There is going
to be great support for this from a lot of very smart and brave
people. That is how I know it will not fail.

Great links here, great articles.
http://www.nasawatch.com/index.html