Americans like NASA, but don't support their funding going towards moon missions, according to new polls.
Many Americans think NASA returning to the moon is a waste of time and it should prioritize asteroid hunting instead, a poll shows::Americans like NASA, but don’t support their funding going towards moon missions, according to new polls.
You read that right. What “many Americans” aren’t thinking about is that we are at the bottom of a very big gravity well here on Earth. Launching anything into space, like an asteroid destroyer, takes enormous energy to accomplish.
If instead we could launch from the moon, we’d be able to get bigger things into space faster and cheaper and more often. But to do this we need a base and a way to manufacture fuel. The raw materials are there, but we don’t have any of the infrastructure built.
Eventually we HAVE to get to a point where we are mining, refueling, and building off-Earth. The only thing we should be launching from Earth is people.
The moon is our first stop on this evolutionary path.
I think they do occasionally toss a mission into the agenda because it will capture the popular imagination. NASA has it pretty well dialed in. They serve science so liberals are happy and they have big explodey rockets and a history of competing against enemies so conservatives are happy. You don’t get to half a percent of the national budget without a good sales pitch.
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If you want to hunt asteroids, go to the moon.
You read that right. What “many Americans” aren’t thinking about is that we are at the bottom of a very big gravity well here on Earth. Launching anything into space, like an asteroid destroyer, takes enormous energy to accomplish.
If instead we could launch from the moon, we’d be able to get bigger things into space faster and cheaper and more often. But to do this we need a base and a way to manufacture fuel. The raw materials are there, but we don’t have any of the infrastructure built.
Eventually we HAVE to get to a point where we are mining, refueling, and building off-Earth. The only thing we should be launching from Earth is people.
The moon is our first stop on this evolutionary path.
Most americans don’t understand this, sadly
Happily, though, NASA isn’t run by internet poll 👍
It is ultimately run by elected representatives though. Popular opinions matter
I think they do occasionally toss a mission into the agenda because it will capture the popular imagination. NASA has it pretty well dialed in. They serve science so liberals are happy and they have big explodey rockets and a history of competing against enemies so conservatives are happy. You don’t get to half a percent of the national budget without a good sales pitch.