Again, the 20 million is going to the Russian program, same as it did with Mr. Tito.
I think we should sell tickets to our space missions. Why let the Ruskies make all the money.
Hell, if they would just leave the guy up there, I would chip in on his flight.
Sell advertising space on the side of the shuttle, make it pay for itself for a change.
Sorry, my last post was in response to wagnoid
Well, I would hope the money would be put back into the space program. Even if it’s the Russian program, any investment in space research in general is of benefit to humanity as a whole. But in any case, the public interest angle is more important than the money. Get people interested in space again, like they were in the 60’s, so they’ll be willing to pony up some dough for it.
Well sure. But they are a business, you know. They’re interested in making a profit for themselves. If, in the course of doing that, they also end up doing some good for the rest of the world, why not let them? It’s not like they decided to take twenty million out of the money they were going to spend on feeding orphans and decided to use it for PR instead…
So what’s the problem?
Jarbabyl, I can understand his celebrity, but the space program is not going away, we have too much invested and too much at stake for us not to fund it, in fact, NASA is not crazy about paying tourist going in the first place, it is the Russian program that is pushing it. It’s a huge publicity stunt that could backfire on them, to me they are cheapening the whole program by allowing him on board. These millions of kids you speak of will watch to see if he sings or dances, if he does’nt, they will lose interest; I don’t see it enriching the space program.
If they really want to make a difference, document Lance Bass going through fire department training, hopefully encouraging young people to get involved with helping their community. Chances are many more kids would qualify to join the ranks of the fire department then they would qualify to go into space. By my name you might say I am biased slightly!
Okay, one more time: they don’t want to “make a difference”. They want to make MONEY. And in the process of making money, they are potentially doing some good for the space program. Why bust their balls for that?
Sure, there are lots of other ways they could be making money, which would maybe indirectly benefit other areas, but so what? It’s their money. Let them spend it how they want.
(Besides, it’s not like firemen aren’t getting enough publicity these days!)
Yes, I realize this is the Russian program getting the direct $20 million. However, they have a seat on an American Space Shuttle which they purchased either through an agreement to participate in the ISS or directly with money, depending on how you look at it. They then sold it, in pure captialism style, to a high bigger. Corporate purchasing isn’t far behind.
Ferrous - My view is simply that once you let money start comming in, it will not be long before it is big money, similar to what has happened with campaigning. After that, the big corps WILL be dictating NASA policy. I understand you think controls can be put in place, but I see money as a drug to the powers that be. Once in, it can’t be stopped.
kevja - yes, there is a huge difference. The direction of cash flow is completely opposite. With the space program, money goes INTO it from private people. For the USPS/Lance Armstrong, the money goes from the gov’t to a private party. Is that okay? Dunno… but not a topic for here.
Sure, sending him up might get some kids interested in the space program for a few moments. But has Lance Bass ever shown interest in space or astronomy before this space trip business first came up? Has he any passion about it? More to the point, is he going to be able to teach those kids anything while he’s up there? Or will the Bad Astronomer have to come in and do cleanup work afterwards?
[sub]Send up Tom Hanks. At least he has a clue what it’s all about…[/sub]
Considering how much NASA has managed to keep commercial interests out of the space program, and how poorly it is being run w/regards to its prime mission, I’m all for a company using the Russians to send someone to space, might give the government a nice kick in the ass for helping NASA supress other attempts.
But Radio Shack already donates large sums to charities, and while I don’t know if it still exists, a lot of students have been recipients of the Tandy/Radio Shack Scholarship. So why should they have to then donate a portion of their advertising budget that they’ve set aside for this purpose? Should they continue to donate all their profits to charity until the company is out of business? That would put 50,000 people out of jobs, cost lots of stockholders thousands of dollars and hurt the economy of downtown Fort Worth, especially considering several women- and minority-run businesses expect to do business with them when they build their new offices (a condition of several tax breaks).
I don’t have a cite, but I do believe it was one of Lance Bass’ dreams since childhood to be an astronaut. I may be wrong, but I thought I heard that.
And just curious, but would you be just as angry if it was indeed Tom Hanks being sponsored to go into space?
Isn’t the bottom line that you dislike boy bands and this is just one more way of expressing it?
I never said they should donate all of their profits until they are out of business–that’s quite a stretch!! If they are doing it for the sake of advertising, what are they trying to sell? All this stunt will do is push CD sales. I shop at Radio Shack quite often, buying components, wiring and equipment, but I can’t see how sponsoring Bass’s joyride will inspire anyone to walk into one of their stores unless they were going to anyway.
I am a big Alan Jackson and Tom Hanks fan and would be just as upset if either one of them were asking for corporate contributions for an ego trip into space. If Mr. Bass truly wants to go, he needs to pay his own way! Tom Hanks would build his own shuttle and pay John Travolta to fly it for him, now those two are real stars!!
This is not true. The Russians do not go into space on the American Space Shuttle. They have their own Soyuz spacecraft. NASA’s only involvement in this whole thing is that they theoretically have a voice in who can enter the ISS.
And in fact, this is not a demanding mission. The cosmonauts who normally do this don’t have to be extra qualified or anything. They fly a Soyuz up, dock it for use as a lifeboat for the ISS, and take the old one down. Not rocket science. I doubt they even need three cosmonauts for the mission, so why not sell the extra seat?
This is from Uri Geller website. It’s about a year old, from just before MJ new album came out.
I’m sure RadioShack has thought about this a lot more than you have. Companies, generally, don’t spend millions of dollars without first doing some research, and thinking about how it will affect the business. Obviously they believe that sponsoring a pop star’s trip into space will be a good advertising move.
I don’t work in marketing, but I believe the term is “mind share.” If Lance fans see him in the ISS wearing a RadioShack hat, and then the “RadioShack[sup]TM[/sup] Space Fact Ticker” pops up and says that Lance has to use a suction tube when he pees to keep urine from flying around the cabin, the next time that person thinks, “Oh, I need a new CD player.” their next thought is more likely to be, “I’ll go to RadioShack” than “I’ll go to Best Buy.” At least that’s the theory.
FIREMAN44, are you a shareholder? Because you seem personally offended that they would spend their own money this way. And yet, it would be ok if MTV or his record label wanted to be sponsors. 
I’ll check my mutual funds, but I don’t think I’m a shareholder. MTV and record labels are in the business of promoting their stars so their involvement is understandable. I just think there are more deserving people needing financial backing who might actually advance the space program. Plus, that’s twenty million flowing out of the USA to fund the Russian space program. That kind of money could make such a difference in so many ways to so many children if it were spent differently. It’s their money to do with what they choose, but it’s their money only because consumers like you and me buy their products.
I don’t get why anyone would care about this. Do you also get so upset if your neighbor wears his belt too tight? Or if he wears white after labor day? Sheesh.
Some guys decide to spend their money in ways you would not spend it and they are giving it to a foreign agency for the service they want. Why would this concern any of us? People buy tacky stuff imported from China every day which I would not buy if I was drunk. But why would I care
The best thing that could happen to space programs is that they become 100% private and commercial. By the way, dozens and dozens of commercial launches are taking place every year by different countries and all sorts of satelites are being put in orbit. Just yesterday an Arianne rocket was launched with a meteosat. I believe it was something like the 11th Arianne launch this year. If you want some payload launched you just buy a ticket on the next launch. What’s so terrible with buying a ticket for a human passenger?
He’s going up with Russians, allegedly. If the Russians will have him - which I hear is still pending. Anyway, I say let him train with the Russians! If NASA won’t take him, maybe he shouldn’t be training on OUR tax-paid equipment, either!!!
I agree with the OP - let the rich kid work for dream. Why should corporate sponsors be involved? Maybe they’d like to sponsor my kid to wear their corporate names? Maybe he’ll upset HAL while he’s up there…the scum. Why doesn’t he put his money where it might do mankind some good? Self-indulged squirt!
Here’s to hoping he’s buying a one-way ticket! Sorry, I’m quite embittered by such conspicuous consumption.
- Jinx
>> I’m quite embittered by such conspicuous consumption.
Jealousy is its own punishment.