# What went wrong with the space program?    Contemplations on a 1962 "Sci. American"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-the-space-program-contemplations-on-a-1962-sci-american/320122>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 5, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-the-space-program-contemplations-on-a-1962-sci-american/320122 "2005-09-05T00:05:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Jeffro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jeffro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeffro)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-the-space-program-contemplations-on-a-1962-sci-american/320122/21 "2005-09-10T21:04:45Z")

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> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#):
>
> American lost their guts.:mad:
> 
> We no longer dare to dream, much less dream **big** , & we have become a nation of cheap, short-sighted, mean-spirited hustlers. Worse–we no longer have the courage to live on/explore a frontier.
> 
> The Space program was a dream of the WW2 generation, & as _they_ pass away, their dreams go with them. ☹  
> The Baby Boomers–well, they’re _quantity_ Americans, not _quality_ ones. ☹

Sad but true. ☹

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-the-space-program-contemplations-on-a-1962-sci-american/320122/22 "2005-09-11T04:34:11Z")

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> [@Sam Stone](#):
>
> If we discovered some rare material on the moon that was incredibly valuable, could be mined and marketed within a decade or two, and promised to make the company who figured out how to get it rich, then you’d see a robust private space program. That’s really what’s holding us back.

A more recent issue of _Popular Mechanics_ (October 2004) has “Mining the Moon” as a cover story. The lunar surface is teeming with Helium-3, unavailable in quantity on Earth, and could be used to fuel a future generation of fusion reactors.

Actually, I’d like to one day write a science-fiction story called, for example, “November”, in which it’s presumed that everything in a particular issue of that month’s _Popular Science_ comes true, and the ramifications.

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-the-space-program-contemplations-on-a-1962-sci-american/320122/23 "2005-09-11T17:42:16Z")

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Plus this is the “I want it now” generation. I am old enough (barely) to remember life before microwaves, computers, news all the time, Email, etc. There was a time where if you had to communicate with someone you had to use the post office, a public phone, or go home and use your own phone. There was no using your cell phone to confirm the Email you just sent from your car.

This generation will never stand for spending billions of dollars for the payoff years from now. In 2010, if the President challenges NASA for a manned mission to Mars by 2020 (very doable with our technology), the public will say, You mean we won’t be there next week?! Screw it!"

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