
How China is super-sizing science - PuffinBlue
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-0192822d-14f1-432b-bd25-92eab6466362
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ttraub
China is accomplishing great things in science; very impressive list of
projects.

By contrast, the U.S. seems to ceding its former leadership role. We don't
even have a manned space program anymore. Maybe some day, Orion will be
completed. But in the meantime, NASA is operating on a shoestring budget
compared to a few decades ago.

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IndianAstronaut
>NASA is operating on a shoestring budget compared to a few decades ago.

NASA has gone from 5% of the federal budget to .5% of the federal budget. It
is quite depressing to see this.

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contingencies
How has the military budget changed over the same period? What about the
military space budget? In the late 1990s I remember they were getting
aggressively in to weaponizing satellites and anti-satellite weaponry was
developed. I suppose there's a lot of space weapons (eg. anti-satellite)
idling by now.

Then again, there's that story about NASA's space pen and the Russian
pencil... maybe budget cuts were needed.

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IndianAstronaut
I imagine there is always going to be some waste. Even the military is
notorious for unused equipment, toilet seats costing thousands, etc.

