Was the Apollo program a waste of money?

[Phil]

The Apollo program cost around 25 billion dollars (not adjusted for inflation) in 1969.

Was it all a waste? The Apollo program has inspired many famous astronauts, astronomers, and other scientists.

What about other programs funded by NASA or the government such as the Mars Rover project or the many telescopes such as the Hubble or James Webb space telescopes? How about the Voyager projects?

What are your opinions?

 

[TheTexan]

I am fully confident it could have been funded by donations if we weren't indoctrinated to believe that these things require taxes.

 

[eduardo89]

waste of taxpayer funds.

 

[carclinic]

I think they should make a pyramid that is, like, 3 times the size of the pyramids in Giza and we should perform human sacrifices of "terrorists" and throw their heads down the side...ooops, I watched apocalypto on Sunday.

 

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

Total waste of money..

 

[NoOneButPaul]

Not a waste of money at all... everyone around here is always talking about how screwed the world is... why not put forth the resources to actually terraform planets or find a way to exist somewhere else in the solar system?

It's absolutely not a waste of money and contrary to popular belief here finding another planet to live on is not something that can be achieved through donations or incentives. Space projects are way too much money.

It's estimated that a Mars mission could cost half a trillion, no amount of donations or entrepreneurial spirit is going to find that kind of money to burn.

Space exploration is perhaps the only place where I'd like to see government money. If it's all funny money and we're going to destroy the dollar anyway I'd rather destroy it on exploring space.

Who knows what's out there...

 

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

Not a waste of money at all... everyone around here is always talking about how screwed the world is... why not put forth the resources to actually terraform planets or find a way to exist somewhere else in the solar system?

It's absolutely not a waste of money and contrary to popular belief here finding another planet to live on is not something that can be achieved through donations or incentives. Space projects are way too much money.

It's estimated that a Mars mission could cost half a trillion, no amount of donations or entrepreneurial spirit is going to find that kind of money to burn.

Space exploration is perhaps the only place where I'd like to see government money. If it's all funny money and we're going to destroy the dollar anyway I'd rather destroy it on exploring space.

Who knows what's out there...

So if a private entity cannot accomplish something either through lack of resources or apathy, it is ok to steal from me under threat of violence to pay for something that I really don't care about?

 

[WilliamC]

The Apollo Program was but a small example of what we could have accomplished (we being as a species, not just a nation) had not the vast majority of the worlds wealth been co-opted into funding useless wars and weapons systems by a small minority of religious apocalyptic parasites who truly believe themselves to be godlike compared to the rest of us .

No it was not wasted, but neither was it done with the intention to further the long term survival of human kind.

Believe it or not, there are actually religious wackos out there who don't want for mankind to survive and think that their god is going to come to Earth and punish us because we are all bad.

And some of them have taken upon themselves to hurry this along via nuclear war.

Fortunately this latter group really is a small minority, even most power-hungry people aren't actually evil so much as ruthless, and the vast majority of religious folks who believe in armageddon have no interest in causing it by their own actions.

It only takes a few evil people to pollute the goodness of millions since destruction is always so much easier than creation so that's why all of human history since the rise of civilization over 8,000 years ago has been about wars.

But now we have the internet and more of us right-thinking folks are waking up to this all the time, and we outnumber the parasites about 10,000 to one at least,.

Critical mass is fast approaching...

 

[TheTexan]

It's absolutely not a waste of money and contrary to popular belief here finding another planet to live on is not something that can be achieved through donations or incentives. Space projects are way too much money.

If it can't be funded without theft, it's almost by definition a waste of money

 

[sratiug]

The Saturn 5 rocket that sent Appollo to the moon was subcontracted and the plans lost after the contract expired. We can't build one now, so that was a little wasteful.

 

[John F Kennedy III]

Colossal waste of money.

 

[AdelaideGUy]

Absolutely not

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xtly-dpBeA

 

[azxd]

Sad that so many can call it a waste of money, yet are not being specific about why.

Also sad that so few seem to see any benefit from the effort ... But what do I know, I'm in the minority, and the opposition obviously knows better.

 

[idiom]

Not a waste of money at all... everyone around here is always talking about how screwed the world is... why not put forth the resources to actually terraform planets or find a way to exist somewhere else in the solar system?

It's absolutely not a waste of money and contrary to popular belief here finding another planet to live on is not something that can be achieved through donations or incentives. Space projects are way too much money.

It's estimated that a Mars mission could cost half a trillion, no amount of donations or entrepreneurial spirit is going to find that kind of money to burn.

Space exploration is perhaps the only place where I'd like to see government money. If it's all funny money and we're going to destroy the dollar anyway I'd rather destroy it on exploring space.

Who knows what's out there...

A Private mission will cost $5-10 Billion. It is already under development. Two entire generations of rockets and capsules have been developed and launched for less than the cost of a single shuttle flight. No serious technology would be developed for a Mars mission, unlike the Apollo missions that required incredible advances in technology and brought us such things as relational databases and pre-emptive multi-tasking.

The Apollo mission got a huge amount of technology developed that may not have been attempted by the private sector for a very long time. In fact until now. So while in itself it was highly inefficient it spun out a huge amount of technology. Space technology has no reached the point where it is better off as a recipient of other industries advances.

 

[idiom]

Program Directive: Waste anything but time.
Program result: Money wasted.

Was all the money wasted? Probably not. The 60's were a really dark period for the world. Apollo 8 really was a momentus morale boost for humanity.

Is stealing from you worth it to save your sorry butt from nuclear destruction if it save mine too? Dunno. Its in self defence. The NAP is really great when it comes to involving third parties in self defence.

 

[Phil]

A Private mission will cost $5-10 Billion. It is already under development. Two entire generations of rockets and capsules have been developed and launched for less than the cost of a single shuttle flight. No serious technology would be developed for a Mars mission, unlike the Apollo missions that required incredible advances in technology and brought us such things as relational databases and pre-emptive multi-tasking.

The Apollo mission got a huge amount of technology developed that may not have been attempted by the private sector for a very long time. In fact until now. So while in itself it was highly inefficient it spun out a huge amount of technology. Space technology has no reached the point where it is better off as a recipient of other industries advances.

SpaceX will only be making a profit because of a multi-billion dollar contract with NASA.

 

[awake]

The Apollo program cost around 25 billion dollars (not adjusted for inflation) in 1969.

Was it all a waste? The Apollo program has inspired many famous astronauts, astronomers, and other scientists.

What about other programs funded by NASA or the government such as the Mars Rover project or the many telescopes such as the Hubble or James Webb space telescopes? How about the Voyager projects?

What are your opinions?

What did this en-devour produce for the masses? Do you have a rover of your own, or space trip to speak of? These were "New Deal" like grand schemes to distract and spend all of us into what we are living through today.

No one can buy the products or services of NASA. NASA ensured that the real private space industry could never be realized.

 

[Voluntarist]

xxxxx

 

[whippoorwill]

I've had a Telescope sence I was 9 years old and 25 years later the Night sky still calls to me. Being a part of or working with NASA had been my dream. Now that I've learned taxation is theft my veiws have changed some what. I see government as a large criminal gang with flags and music. No matter what program they may run that might pull on my heart strings it is still paid for with violence and theft. "Was the Apollo program a waste of money?" Yes,..more over it was a waste of Liberty. The Human race can do more in Liberty than it ever could in violence.

 

[Pericles]

What did this en-devour produce for the masses? Do you have a rover of your own, or space trip to speak of? These were "New Deal" like grand schemes to distract and spend all of us into what we are living through today.

No one can buy the products or services of NASA. NASA ensured that the real private space industry could never be realized.

A couple of examples:

(A) a fabric was needed for spacesuits that was flexible, yet could be made selectively impermiable for various gasses and liquids. Today, this fabric is known as Gore-Tex.

(B) on board nagigation calculations needed to be made rapidly, and not subject to human error. A computer was needed small and light weight enough to fit in the capsule, be programable without punch cards or 9 track tape. And that computer was a trend setter at 8K of RAM, and transistor operated ....

Unconstitutional - yes / Waste of money - no