
Will NASA retreat from human space exploration? - nreece
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/01/will-nasa-retreat-from-human-s.html
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jacquesm
The retreat was started decades ago. It is coming to a close.

The US simply can't afford a 'war on terrorism', a 'war on drugs' and a space
program at the same time.

Cool if you downmod because you disagree, but please enlighten me as to _why_
you disagree.

The height of the space program was the commencement of the shuttle programme
and the assembly of the space station (arguably an international more than a
US endeavour, but without US participation it would never have happened).

But the shuttles are at their end-of-life and it remains to be seen if there
ever will be successor.

They always were near-earth devices, some people would argue that the US space
program ended with the last manned moonshot.

A significant reason for this is that the US has spent large sums of money
keeping a vast number of people locked up in jail for minor infractions, spent
countless billions abroad to try to influence events in Latin America and the
middle east.

Not to mention two wars that might have been avoided by not empowering people
that turned really bad (tm) when they slipped their leash.

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coderdude
I upmodded you because no one is countering your argument, and I don't think
you're entirely misguided. The US has stagnated like crazy when it comes to
space. I don't know if it's necessarily our fake wars going on. I think it's
because people (the general populous) does not care. If they cared I'm sure we
could just print even more bogus cash and pay for it.

