# Fuck off NASA guy! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 11, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772 "2008-12-11T21:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/41 "2009-01-02T21:33:15Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Oh, I dunno. > > Remember a year ago, just after the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis went down? Remember all the talk about all the old, poorly maintained and very probably uninspected bridges that needed to be replaced in this country? > > I do, but perhaps those experts don’t. Yeah, I could point to a half-dozen infrastructure projects ready to be finished, just in LA county. Throw a few billion at them, would you please? ---
**Author:** ![ponsonby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@ponsonby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ponsonby)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/42 "2009-01-02T21:46:12Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Nixon’s people railroaded NASA into building the space shuttle and had them promise more than they _knew_ it could deliver.](http://www.spacedaily.com/news/shuttle-03p1.html) Whilst I support the idea of us going back to the Moon and Mars, I’ve long suspected that the money being allocated the program was **not** nearly enough. I seem to remember that Bush requested a feasibility study of a trip to Mars sometime in 2003. Nasa told him the most conservative estimate of cost was 400 billion, but that they still had not figured out how to keep people alive for the 18 month round trip. And the 400 billion was a barebones figure, leaving no margins for error. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/43 "2009-01-03T16:47:41Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Slightly off topic, but here’s something I don’t understand: Then try reading something other than WSJ, Fox, and Power Line. > [@](#): > > Obama’s talking about blowing hundreds of billions of dollars on ‘infrastructure’. A moment with the Google would alleviate your ignorance. [url=]Here. > [@](#): > > Obama offered few details of his plan, but said it would double U.S. renewable energy production, rebuild crumbling infrastructure, update and computerize the health care system and modernize classrooms, science laboratories and libraries. > [@](#): > > Experts Such as? :dubious: > [@](#): > > are saying there aren’t enough infrastructure projects ready to start to be able to absorb all that money Even if that is true, which, given your record, certainly cannot be granted, there is no reasonable basis to limit the stimulus package (which you admit you don’t understand) to immediate, ready-to-go projects anyway. Even if you meant that limitation on your answer honestly, which also cannot be granted, the Republican policies you have supported so loyally over the years didn’t get us in this deeply immediately, and correcting them won’t be immediate either. There will have to be years of restored government responsibility for restoring the basics of what we need to have a strong economy again to make up for the years of selfish neglect your ideology has represented. No, there is not a list of ready-to-go projects that your Bush people have prepared, just waiting for Obama’s signature - if you must be so foolish, don’t pretend the rest of us are. > [@](#): > > In this environment, why is Obama talking about cutting NASA’s budget, when NASA already employs hundreds of workers on the Constellation project, and it’s already being built and tons of money have already been spent? The multiplier effects of the space program on the rest of the economy have always been questionable. It’s been justified by a variety of other reasons, sure, but it’s had to strain for rationalizations when placed in economic terms. And this is an economic problem - if the restoration of responsibility to budget management means cuts, which it does, then high-visibility, low-multiplier items are going to be vulnerable. Don’t claim to be surprised by that. > [@](#): > > more money to blow like mad to stimulate the economy? Does this make any sense? Not to a hardened, blinkered, partisan ideologue, no, it can’t. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/44 "2009-01-03T17:20:25Z")
[A little more to fight your self-admitted ignorance:](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/01/03/obama_country_needs_economic_stimulus_plan/) > [@](#): > > Congressional aides briefed on the measure say it’s likely to blend tax cuts of $500 to $1,000 for middle-class individuals and couples with about $200 billion to help revenue-starved states with their Medicaid programs and other operating costs. > > A large portion of the measure will go toward infrastructure projects, blending old-fashioned brick and mortar programs such as road and bridge repairs and water projects with new programs such as research and development on energy efficiency and an expensive rebuilding of the information technology system for health care. But here’s the amusing part: > [@](#): > > Republicans have urged a delay to review the plans. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republicans’ top official, said the plan needs time so that “every dollar needs to be spent wisely and not wasted in the rush to get it spent.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/45 "2009-01-03T19:58:38Z")
> [@ponsonby](#): > > . . . but that they still had not figured out how to keep people alive for the 18 month round trip. What’s so hard about that? Don’t we have nuclear submarines that are equipped and supplied to go that long without putting in to port? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/46 "2009-01-03T20:05:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What’s so hard about that? Don’t we have nuclear submarines that are equipped and supplied to go that long without putting in to port? Nope. Three to six months is all, IIRC, and in the case of subs, they’re extracting oxygen and drinking water from the ocean for much of the voyage. We could do it, the technology isn’t _that_ much of a stretch (though some of it, like protecting astronauts from solar flares might be _really_ expensive), but the biggest issue is if human’s could handle being in a tiny tin can for 18 months without killing one another. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/47 "2009-01-04T00:58:18Z")
> [@ponsonby](#): > > I seem to remember that Bush requested a feasibility study of a trip to Mars sometime in 2003. Nasa told him the most conservative estimate of cost was 400 billion, but that they still had not figured out how to keep people alive for the 18 month round trip. And the 400 billion was a barebones figure, leaving no margins for error. And that was a retarded ass plan. IIRC it involved massive ships, orbiting space stations, and maybe even a lunar base. Think about what 400 billion represents. That roughly 800! Shuttle Launches. Yeah, going to Mars is gonna take a good bit o crap being placed into space, but NOT 800 shuttle missions worth! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/48 "2009-01-07T21:47:38Z")
[He appears to be fucking off.](http://www.space.com/news/ft-090107-nasa-chief-steppingdown.html) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/49 "2009-01-07T23:02:52Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [He appears to be fucking off.](http://www.space.com/news/ft-090107-nasa-chief-steppingdown.html) Yay!! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/50 "2009-01-07T23:34:35Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Yay!! Why “yay”?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/51 "2009-01-08T00:23:05Z")
Because the dick was trying to obstruct the transition team from getting full and complete information. Because the dick told contractors and staff to not talk to the transition team. Because the dick was a Bush appointee and could have been funneling money to other sources. Because the dick, if he really cared about his project and wasn’t fudging numbers, would be 100% transparent and helpful and strive to make them (transition team, Obama, the public) understand why his project is so important and why his project has cost so much money and why it’s important to keep spending money on it even so. Sometimes big projects do cost a lot of money and there are understandable failures involved, but be honest and open about where the money is going, and why the failures happened, and what important stuff we’ve learned from the failures. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772/52 "2009-01-08T04:25:01Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Because the dick was trying to obstruct the transition team from getting full and complete information. Because the dick told contractors and staff to not talk to the transition team. Because the dick was a Bush appointee and could have been funneling money to other sources. Because the dick, if he really cared about his project and wasn’t fudging numbers, would be 100% transparent and helpful and strive to make them (transition team, Obama, the public) understand why his project is so important and why his project has cost so much money and why it’s important to keep spending money on it even so. Sometimes big projects do cost a lot of money and there are understandable failures involved, but be honest and open about where the money is going, and why the failures happened, and what important stuff we’ve learned from the failures. Umm, none of that comes from anything but a single blog\*, and everyone else has denied it. Well, yes, he is a Bush appointee. Apparently there was some sort of temporary misunderstanding with the transition team, blown out of proportion by ONE blogster. **ONE.** - which is the source for every cite I can find. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-off-nasa-guy/476772.md?page=2)