Virgin Galactic will have a hotel on the moon before NASA gets back there with their pathetic 1960's rocket.
Now that I'll agree with...
Hell, Starbucks might beat NASA to the moon.
The problem with NASA is that they put bureaucrats in charge, and they let the women take over.
NASA is incompetent because it's a government agency.
There was a sense of urgency in the '60s that is no longer there. The space program in that decade was less about science or sustainable progress than it was international prestige and proving to the other side that "if I can get to orbit, I can nuke you, too, mate!" Under those conditions even the government managed to function, although I still wouldn't call the program exactly efficient. But it was effective.
Today's NASA is neither.
doesnt the mission objectives figure in there
NASA is incompetent because it's a government agency.
Wrong. Nearly all government agencies function quite well, including NASA. But it isn't NASA's mission to put a man on the moon, that was their mission back when, you know, they had lots of moonwalks. But times changed, people didn't even watch moonwalks on TV, so NASA scrapped the program and their mission became "Mission Earth".
60's NASA was badass because they had Nazi rocket scientists.
Today's NASA can barely keep the shuttle in one piece on its way to orbit. http://www.freerepublic.com/focu...s/1452415/
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You think the friggin Nazis would let some hairy-armpitted EPA lesbians run their space program into the ground? Fick nicht.
Bill... that's the dumbest thing I've heard you say... ever.
Bill, that's not my experience at all working for the Dept of War (it's more honest to call it that).
Between politics, bureaucratic momentum and unions there is nearly zero accountability in most federal govt ventures. And it sure seems that way with state, county and town offices too.
Hell, at my job I count myself lucky to find anyone that stands up and says "Yeah, that's my job and my responsibility".
Pass the buck and CYA is SOP in the SNAFU DoD.
So like I said, Grumman, Rockwell, etc. took us to the moon, despite NASA, in the 60's. What's changed is that government has gotten "better", i.e. better able to stick its nose into everything and create utter chaos.
It used to be that a gov agency used private industry to accomplish things, but in our liberal push to have big mommy government take care of everything they've actually come to believe the BS, and we have government pushing its way into and wrecking everything it can.
Is this news to anyone?
Nearly all government agencies function quite well...
Yup. The real issue is understanding what they're supposed to be doing, as opposed to what their name is.
NASA has gotten better since the 1960's.
Better at stretching out the stream of funding and making the most budget out of a program.
I think the answer Nate is looking for is that this time they actually intend to go.
No point in it. Rutan is interested now, next will be cruise lines or casino owners. The wonderful thing about America is the ability of capitalists to out do the boot lickers. I Predict Burt designs a casino for the Creek indians and Carnival cruise lines.
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