Ron Paul on NASA??

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Yoddle

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Ron Paul said this - "We must recognize the government led space program is dead and the corpse must be buried as soon as possible. Any defense functions should be put under the military, and the rest of NASA should be sold to private operators."

I agree space travel exploration should be privatized, but does this mean their will be no government funding under Ron Paul? Without government funding how could any profits be made? Beyond Earth orbit I mean, Putting up satellites and putting millionaires into lower orbit (only to...sadly have them return to Earth) really doesn't exactly advance us as a species.

What I really want to know is, Is NASA or government funded space exploration in his 'Plan to Restore America?' - I couldn't find it, other agencies he isn't funding like the Department of Education is mentioned but shows he isn't funding it. :D
 
Yoddle said:
Ron Paul said this - "We must recognize the government led space program is dead and the corpse must be buried as soon as possible. Any defense functions should be put under the military, and the rest of NASA should be sold to private operators."

I agree space travel exploration should be privatized, but does this mean their will be no government funding under Ron Paul? Without government funding how could any profits be made? Beyond Earth orbit I mean, Putting up satellites and putting millionaires into lower orbit (only to...sadly have them return to Earth) really doesn't exactly advance us as a species.

What I really want to know is, Is NASA or government funded space exploration in his 'Plan to Restore America?' - I couldn't find it, other agencies he isn't funding like the Department of Education is mentioned but shows he isn't funding it. :D
Click to expand...

Do not assume just because the government has had a monopoly on something that it can't be accomplished in the private sector. Virgin Galactic is about to start sending people into space at $200,000 a trip. Hundreds have already paid for this service. With demand like that you will see (baring government intervention) many competitors popping up over the next decade. Competition means the quality will go up while the price goes down. In 20 years you'll be able to fly from New Mexico to China in 1 hour at a cost of a normal plane ticket.

But besides that, lets look at something you said. "Without government funding, how could any profits be made?"

On the contrary, it's because of a government monopoly that no company has yet been able to venture into space for profit. How could a private company compete with a government that gets its funds through taxation? Also, the reason space exploration costs billions and billions is precisely because the government has had a monopoly for 50 years.

Now back to the exploration side. The first moon colony will be for mining. Once we've determined that we can extract valuable ore on the cheap there will be a mad rush to the moon. Once mining camps are established you'll be in a better position to launch missions to Mars. All of this requires a free market to work. Central planning absolutely cannot anticipate all of the factors involved in humans moving on beyond this planet.
 
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Nate-ForLiberty said:
Do not assume just because the government has had a monopoly on something that it can't be accomplished in the private sector. Virgin Galactic is about to start sending people into space at $200,000 a trip. Hundreds have already paid for this service. With demand like that you will see (baring government intervention) many competitors popping up over the next decade. Competition means the quality will go up while the price goes down. In 20 years you'll be able to fly from New Mexico to China in 1 hour at a cost of a normal plane ticket.

But besides that, lets look at something you said. "Without government funding, how could any profits be made?"

On the contrary, it's because of a government monopoly that no company has yet been able to venture into space for profit. How could a private company compete with a government that gets its funds through taxation? Also, the reason space exploration costs billions and billions is precisely because the government has had a monopoly for 50 years.

Now back to the exploration side. The first moon colony will be for mining. Once we've determined that we can extract valuable ore on the cheap there will be a mad rush to the moon. Once mining camps are established you'll be in a better position to launch missions to Mars. All of this requires a free market to work. Central planning absolutely cannot anticipate all of the factors involved in humans moving on beyond this planet.
Click to expand...


I'm not advocating to continue what the Government has been doing for the past 50years with space. I want private company's to build the spacecraft, not the government. BUT I think the government should be able to pay a company(like SpaceX) to take our astronauts to the ISS, moon, or Mars...
 
Because when you meet in the middle on such programs, the lobbys grow and corrupt the system. There is little compromise to be made here, and if and when, we decide what to do with specific operations, we discuss, vote, allocate ect. If the logic is behind a mission concept, we have the money to do it, and the people support the idea, then what's the problem?
 
Yoddle said:
I'm not advocating to continue what the Government has been doing for the past 50years with space. I want private company's to build the spacecraft, not the government. BUT I think the government should be able to pay a company(like SpaceX) to take our astronauts to the ISS, moon, or Mars...
Click to expand...

why? Why do we need government agents in space?
 
Hasn't a few billionaires done more with their fraction of an investment ie space tourism as opposed to what NASA has done?
 
I love NASA. NASA is full of really kick ass people and does a lot of kick ass things.

That said, we need to shut the f*er down. It's been holding back space development for far too long and its been costing the taxpayers way more than its worth. We need private businessmen looking for ways to make PROFIT in space! How can we exploit the resources beyond our atmosphere to produce a positive benefit for the human race?

So far, NASA hasn't found a SINGLE way for humanity to DO anything PRODUCTIVE in space. And who would have expected otherwise? It's a government organization, after all. But they have held a monopoly on the situation.

If I were President, something that would be high on my agenda is to allow private property in space and on the moon. First to develop would be first to own. Mineral rights for asteroids. The quest for resources will drive humanity's expansion into outer space, but I fear little else will. I consider this an extremely high priority, because as it stands we're all ripe for extinction confined to this one little dustball called Earth.
 
NASA is relatively underfunded. Furthermore, the things that NASA does wouldn't be picked up by the private sector. What stake does the private sector have in space exploration? There's no money to be made. There's nothing wrong with NASA.
 
What stake do I, taxpayer, have in space exploration?
Like someone else said, satellite technology for defense.
Other than that, I'm not planning on going anywhere.
If it's so important to people, let them fund it voluntarily.
 
8ClicksPerSecond said:
NASA is relatively underfunded. Furthermore, the things that NASA does wouldn't be picked up by the private sector. What stake does the private sector have in space exploration? There's no money to be made. There's nothing wrong with NASA.
Click to expand...

This is totally false. Many private individuals and organizations have a keen interest in space exploration, for no other reason than to advance scientific knowledge. Just look at the Keck telescopes. A $70 million project funded by the W. M. Keck Foundation, and it's operated by a non-profit group.

Furthermore, there is a TON of money to be made in space. Unbelievable amounts! The resources that are available are quite literally limitless. We need to harness those resources. Besides, think of the adventure.

No, I think there is every indication that private space exploration and development would have been occurring at the same breakneck pace as the computer revolution had we opened up a legal avenue for people and organizations to own extraterrestrial property, own orbits, and exploit the resources of our solar system.
 
Xenophage said:
This is totally false. Many private individuals and organizations have a keen interest in space exploration, for no other reason than to advance scientific knowledge. Just look at the Keck telescopes. A $70 million project funded by the W. M. Keck Foundation, and it's operated by a non-profit group.

Furthermore, there is a TON of money to be made in space. Unbelievable amounts! The resources that are available are quite literally limitless. We need to harness those resources. Besides, think of the adventure.

No, I think there is every indication that private space exploration and development would have been occurring at the same breakneck pace as the computer revolution had we opened up a legal avenue for people and organizations to own extraterrestrial property, own orbits, and exploit the resources of our solar system.
Click to expand...

$70 million won't put a ship, probes, and more into space/deep space for research. Not to mention the amount of R&D that goes into space exploration. As far as I understand, nothing is stopping private interests from space exploration? Or is that not true? I don't think private interests should be barred from space exploration, but there are plenty of things that can and should be cut before NASA.
 
Do you really believe that we would not have that technology without NASA?

How many billions in R&D is spent in the private sector, and you don't think we would have Britta by now?
 
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