No need to bow, Teddy Bear. The question you raise is a valid one.

My thought's always been that the money didn't go to space ... just some metal and plastics and stuff. The money went into the businesses that built the craft, the jobs that created, and the salaries of the people that work there ... not to mention the taxes that support the programs that help the hungry, poor, homeless, etc.

On the other side, the knowledge derived from challenging ourselves to do things that have never been done before seems to add real future value.

Probably just goofy thinking on my part ... but that's what I've always thoughtl.

Teddy Bear,

NASA has failed to communicate the vales of these space spin-offs, and needs to do a better job doing so. I stand corrected for assuming that everyone shares my interest in this subject. They are spending your tax dollars, so questions like "Why go into space when we have unsolved problems here on Earth?" and "What does the space program do for me?" are legitimate and pertinent questions. Irish expresses similar concerns in his post. Each of the goals in your post is valid, as is the “earth exploration” Irish proposes. Please accept my apologies for any implications to the contrary.

I consider it unfortunate that so few people are aware of the substantial benefits the space program provides to our daily lives. Applications on Earth of technology developed for space flight have produced many – I’m sure I can say hundreds - of different products that improve the economy as a whole, and each of our lifestyles. Collectively, these spin-off applications represent a substantial return on the investment (our tax dollars) in aerospace research.

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Eudaimonia

The Cassini-Huygens probe passed within 350,000 km of Saturn’s moon Titan, one of the mission’s primary science targets. The spacecraft has managed to image large linear features on its surface which have not been observed from Earth because of Titan's thick atmosphere. One guess is that these could be tectonic structures - areas of crust which had been shaped by movement similar to what happens on the Earth.

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Eudaimonia

This is the link to the NASA site that explains more about the exploration of Saturn and also explains more about how we receive benefits from space exploration...I found this very interesting... and some really cool pictures of Saturn and its moons!!

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/index.html

Also, there is a section there where you can check up on the Mars Rovers...

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

Another good reason for space exploration.... Looking at things from a different view!

http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/mission/index.htm

http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

There is a spectacular set of pictures of Saturn's Rings, Titan, and Phoebe here!

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimed...atest/index.cfm

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Eudaimonia

Another Earth satellite, the “Aura” will be launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Tuesday. It is the third in the NASA’s series of satellites aimed at providing hard data on the global environment. The first two global environment satellites, “Terra” and “Aqua”, gather information about the ground and the oceans. Aura will concentrate on the atmosphere, looking at gases, pollutants, and chemical reactions.

The 3 ton satellite will be used to test whether the Montreal Protocol to repair the ozone layer is working. While it SEEMS to be working, Aura will provide accurate numbers one way or another. Another of Aura’s roles is to assess the role of tiny particles in the atmosphere. These particles, containing sulphur or carbon, come from natural sources, such as volcanoes, and from human sources, such as coal, oil, and gasoline burning.

If Aura can provide the data needed to by scientists to understand clearly what these aerosols are doing, the costs of effectively reducing air pollution can be minimized, or with the same amount of money, the air quality can be improved more.

Effectively using the information is a political event, not a scientific one.

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Eudaimonia

Good that means we may have 4 hour flights to the other side of the world instead of 16. That means I can pop over to Bumfuck for lunch and be back home for bedtime!

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Half of a set :halo:

Catch22 !!!!!!!!!!!!

At $100,000 a trip, that'll have to be one hell of a Bumfuck! Yet another of the evils of Globalization revealed for all to see!

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Eudaimonia

So I am a romantic Jseal. A boy can dream you know.

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Half of a set :halo:

SpaceShipOne is scheduled today to make the second of the two qualification flights needed to claim the $10m Ansari X-Prize. The first flight took place on Wednesday last week above California.

Let’s wish them well!

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Eudaimonia

Official confirmation is still pending, but it looks as if SpaceShipOne successfully made the second of the two qualification flights needed to claim the X-Prize! The only difference from last week’s flight was that the pilot was different. Still no word of passengers, so I guess that ballast was used again.


Yeah Team!

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Eudaimonia

VIPs from around the world have gathered in Geneva at CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) headquarters to mark 50 years of scientific research.

CERN was also where the World Wide Web was created by Tim Berners-Lee as a method of file-sharing.

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Eudaimonia

“Scooby-Doo” has been awarded a Guinness World Record for most episodes of a cartoon comedy series.

The show's 350th episode, Scooby-Doo Halloween, will be aired on Friday. The previous record holder was “The Simpsons”. Doh!

Seen in more than 160 countries, the show was created back in 1969 by Hanna-Barbera, the same company that created The Flintstones.

Amazing!

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Eudaimonia