karl and the space immigrants

karl coyner: when I see these headlines together I think of funny things:
karl coyner:
* Obama Sets Goals for Space Program 4:52 PM ET
* Immigration Raids Center on Shuttles 6:30 PM ET
karl coyner: like migrant workers hiding in the space shuttle

i came as a rat: HAHAHAHHA
i came as a rat: what are the goals for space?
i came as a rat: i hope they arent cut and fucked
i came as a rat: i truly believe space is the final frontier
i came as a rat: and the ultimate success of human design
i came as a rat: and moreover, the only long term sustainable future
i came as a rat: is learning how to live completely in space

karl coyner: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/science/space/16nasa.html?hp

i came as a rat: okay good

karl coyner: I have mixed feelings...on one hand, I love the space program and I think we need to have something that results in the wacky inventions we would never have thought of for practical things but nevertheless are a huge part of our lives now...
karl coyner: on the other hand, I think we need food, schools and transportation more than we need to continue throwing people into space just to say "we still got it, China!" and dropping tons of pollution in the processes.

i came as a rat: those are just by-products, the 'wacky things'

karl coyner: sounds like Obama's got a plan, it's too bad about the shuttle program ending

i came as a rat: sure, we need food - but we dont need guns
i came as a rat: keep space, cut war efforts

karl coyner: oh fuck yes
karl coyner: unfortunately, that won't happen

i came as a rat: the shuttle program is ancient man. they used those shuttles at the DAWN of computing
i came as a rat: theyre 20+ years old

karl coyner: yup

i came as a rat: most people don't drive a car that old

karl coyner: nearly 30

i came as a rat: so, its no problem the shuttle program is cut

karl coyner: I think the first shuttle was in 81

i came as a rat: we needed a new program

karl coyner: yeah, unfortunately the replacement program is/was 5 years or more behind shuttle
karl coyner: the heavy lift rocket program was supposed to be operational by now, hence it got cut and they're just jumping forward to mars

i came as a rat: yah i guess i dont know much detail other than they were re-working saturn 5s
i came as a rat: more re-usable, less overhead and complexity of having to land a 'glider' to re-enter

karl coyner: hopefully the private sector work is starting to take over (Virgin Galactic, Space Ship One, etc)

i came as a rat: yeah, thats a pretty cool thing, too, eh? but could get crazy with political power plays, ultimately hindering progress, even if it helps for now

karl coyner: well, there are already plenty of political power plays, like Florida being against cutting anything ever because it's their jobs
karl coyner: Was the "return to the moon" a good scientific goal or just Bush grandstanding, trying to establish a kennedy-esque legacy, etc., and, conversely, is cutting it just Obama shitting on Bush or really the best use of funds? Hard to tell
karl coyner: probably a bit of all the above

i came as a rat: yah, so lets just look at the astronomy pic of the day then:

karl coyner: ok!

i came as a rat: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html