NASA Fail!

[ImfromJersey]

5 to 10 million dollar mishap. These clowns are trying to give Obama a reason to cut funding completely. Sad day.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/29/narrow-escape-onlookers-nasa-balloon-crashes-oz/

 

[fc2spyguy]

Yes, because a mishap like this is reason to cut funding completely. Give me a fucking break. Nothing is every going to work 100%, shit breaks, it's going to happen. Without googling when was the last time you can think of a catastrophic failure by NASA? Probably a while ago. Much of the technologies we enjoy today are here much quicker due to the research conducted by NASA. We've benefited greatly by their existence, and will loose much if they're cut.

 

[m26]

Without googling when was the last time you can think of a catastrophic failure by NASA? Probably a while ago.

I'm happy to pour my tax dollars into NASA (particularly compared to some other governmental pet projects), but you must be joking. Pre-google, Columbia seems like a catastrophe IMHO. Hard to second guess that one, but it was definitely bad and definitely preventable. Other than that, seems like they lose a good third of every probulator they send to Mars/Jupiter/Venus, etc.


Edit: Post-google

 

[ImfromJersey]

wow! spyguy, I didn't realize daddy works for NASA. didn't mean to salt your wound. that being said, I'll gladly comment on your idiocracy. you do realize that within the last 3 decades NASA has lost 20% of its shuttle fleet right? both disasters occurring I'm sure since you've been alive, so I would say I can think of a few failures by NASA in recent history. yes, to NASA's credit, they have achieved enormous amounts of progress in all fields of science, but when is the last time they truly "wowwed" the general public. ask anyone around and I'm sure the majority don't even know that the space shuttle is being retired in a few months. no one cares, sadly, but the only time NASA makes the news anymore is when they fail miserably and cost the taxpayers all sorts of money and highly trained crewmembers. I am a huge supporter of NASA and I feel what Obama is doing to the program is atrocious, but NASA isn't exactly helping themselves with this nonsense. anyone remember the Mars probe that crapped out because some dude put in the wrong computer programming? or the fact that hubble was sent up with the wrong lens for the the telescope? what they need to do is blast some monkey to the Moon again to save some face and restore interest in the program, otherwise, if they keep getting press like this, the public will side with the president and chop NASA off the payroll.

 

[yak52driver]

Show me a government agency that does't screw up/waste money/lose resources. What NASA does is highly technical and highly risky and the public and the nation's leaders tend to forget that. The Mars orbiter mentioned in a previous post was lost during the faster/cheaper/better phase of funding NASA attempted to garner a postive image with congress and NASA budget cuts. The faster/better/cheaper triad is doomed to fail, whether in the public or privage sector. We've lost two orbiters because of bad management decisions within NASA, based in part on trying to reduce pressure from congress regarding the shuttle program costs and launch delays due to any number of reasons. I'd much rather see my tax dollars go to funding NASA than a lot of other programs.

 

[Pariel]

I bet if you look at the accident rates for this particular program, they are significantly lower than you find in general in military or civilian aviation. That says a lot when accomplishing missions with the level of complexity NASA normally deals with.

Both Shuttle disaster investigations pinpointed political pressures to stick to schedule and a "nothing-can-fail" attitude in the NASA administrators, which is by far their biggest issue. They literally went over the head of the chief engineer in order to launch the Challenger the day it was destroyed. Sometimes accomplishing an unsafe mission safely over and over again convinces people that they're doing something safe, which is not a good attitude to have when seven lives and upwards of a billion dollars are involved.

This incident is small beans in the NASA pot.

anyone remember the Mars probe that crapped out because some dude put in the wrong computer programming?

Not quite the case. It failed because it was a joint project with some Europeans, and someone forgot to specify "miles", so the Europeans plugged in "kilometers". It turns out a couple dozen miles of dense atmosphere gets things all melty-hot. Very common case study in engineering curriculums these days.

 

[ImfromJersey]

Yak, I completely agree with you. I would gladly spend oodles of tax money on NASA and I am incredibly disappointed to see the Constellation program go by the wayside. I also agree with the fact that NASA's business is very dangerous and it is truly amazing that they have been able to put men and women into space for over 50 years. That being said, NASA has done nothing but lose credibility and public support since the Apollo missions. Hear me out before you jump all over that, but it's simply a statement of fact. During the Cold War, the space race was of utter importance because everyone feared the Soviet bear would be raining down missiles from space. Post Berlin Wall, NASA didn't have much to offer the American public. Yes, the space shuttle, Hubble, the Mars rover, all flashes of genius for NASA, but the populous basically forgot about those programs until they had some sort of catastrophic mishap (as stated above). Look at the post-Apollo 11 Moon missions. Most people in this country probably don't even know we've been to the Moon multiple times. This level of complacency and ignorance with space exploration only heightens the public response when something goes wrong. Yes, NASA has produced many scientific achievements, but unfortunately, these are mostly transparent to the common man. People want the big bang for their taxpayer buck, and unfortunately, in recent years, NASA has failed to provide. What they need right now is public support. Mishaps like this one aren't exactly bolstering their argument for funding. Most people could care less about the space program right now. It's sad but true. Ask around and see how many people know it's in jeopardy right now. Or if they know that the shuttle is going away and we'll be outsourcing our spaceflights to Russia and China. NASA needs to step it up and do something worth saving, or at least make it seem worth saving. To us, yes, we know the importance of NASA, but most people don't. Please don't give me the argument of satellites and the sort, because we all know that most of that is commercialized now anyway. The ball is in NASA's court right now, they need to save themselves. Monkey to the Moon. That'll get the funding.

 

[jollygreen07]

Nice to see you on here, Mike. First lesson: don't argue. It's a total waste of time here.

I'm drunk, so take that for what's it's worth.

 

[fc2spyguy]

Nice to see you on here, Mike. First lesson: don't argue. It's a total waste of time here.

I'm drunk, so take that for what's it's worth.

Arguing on the internet is usually a waste of time anywhere. That being said, I completely agree with your last statement Jersey. However, your initial post made it seem like you thought NASA was a complete waste of time, what with the whole clown comment. It was probably sarcastic, but as with any internet post, I didn't catch it. Also, I don't have anyone in my family receiving a check from NASA, but I have worked with many of them while at White Sands Missile Range.

 

[yak52driver]

Hey Jersey, I actually agree with much of your last post. NASA has been an agency in search of its mission since the Apollo days. The space station is a huge technical achievement, but hasn't reached the potential it had before all the budget cuts back in the 90's when I was there. The shuttle is also a huge achievement each time it launches, but in a world that requires movies with special effects like Avatar to pique the public's interest, reality just doesn't do it for many. It bothers me to no end that we'll be dependent on Russia to get humans to/from orbit. Not sure where NASA will be in a decade, but what had been an agency that reflected our nation's pride and power has certainly fallen from it's former stature.

 

[jtmedli]

wow! spyguy, I didn't realize daddy works for NASA. didn't mean to salt your wound. that being said, I'll gladly comment on your idiocracy. you do realize that within the last 3 decades NASA has lost 20% of its shuttle fleet right? both disasters occurring I'm sure since you've been alive, so I would say I can think of a few failures by NASA in recent history.

Let's not use vague percentages. 2/10 = 20% in 30 years, so what? They're flying shit into outer space...It's not the same thing as if the Navy lost 20% of it's Hornet fleet due to mishaps.

Not to mention that 10million bucks to NASA, and the Government overall, is about what it takes to get Obama a snickers bar for lunch so cut them a little slack.

 

[Pepe]

Here's what 100 mil (comparatively) looks like, so try and cut the penny 10x smaller...

 

[jtmedli]

Here's what 100 mil (comparatively) looks like, so try and cut the penny 10x smaller...

Everyone should watch that video...a drop in the bucket. We're going to have to make some pretty drastic steps in order to ACTUALLY reduce the spending any reasonable amount (i.e. in the billions).

 

[Pariel]

It's OK, we've got this one. By the time I'm able to collect Social Security the system will have collapsed.

 

[JIMC5499]

Uhhh ! When did we have 10 shuttles? We only had 5. That is a 40% loss rate.