Trump on Space
For Donald Trump, fixing potholes is a higher priority than NASA, Mashable
“In the old days, it [NASA] was great. Right now, we have bigger problems, you understand that,” Trump said. “We have to fix our potholes. We don’t exactly have a lot of money.” Right now NASA receives roughly one half of 1% of the overall federal budget each year, amounting to about $18 billion allocated to the space agency for fiscal year 2015. Trump also made it clear that he is excited about the emerging private spaceflight industry. “You know, space is actually being taken over privately, which is great,” he said according to a WMUR video taken of the event. “It’s being taken over, a lot of private companies going up into space. I like that maybe even better.”
Well I’ll bet Trump perceives Space as being an expensive big SHOW to inspire 10 year old kids. I under where he ever got that idea?
I was not impressed by his Saturday night live performance either.
But I think Trump is Smart enough to know a scam when he sees it.
P. T. BARNUM
Maybe someone should inform his campaign that a Lunar COTS Program could create a space economy in the not to distant future.
Hummm
I would consider voting for him if he would cancel SLS and Orion
Seems @torybruno is on to it
https://twitter.com/dtarsge…
Did you really expect him to say “I haven’t looked into NASA much but I’ll get back to you” ?? NASA’s not even on the national radar anymore, let alone The Donald’s.
Losers look into things. Trump’s a smart guy, smart guys make decisions while losers are still getting back to you. Sure NASA was great in its day, Trump admires NASA; but they claimed the moon for all mankind. That’s loser talk. What about America? If Trump had been running NASA, which he could have if he’d wanted to, he was a smart 20yr old, he would have claimed the moon for America, and created a moon colony called Trump City and then build a wall around it. Because that’s what winners do.
Carson was offered a full scholarship by NASA to become an astronaut but got expelled when he stabbed one of his colleagues with a space knife. True story.
I doubt Trump has put more than a few seconds thought into it, but it’s a legitimate argument even if you think it’s wrong and a false choice (as I do). Governments should aim their funding where it can be most useful, and space exploration is expensive with more limited near-term applications compared to some other venues of scientific research (it’s great for basic research and cultural enrichment, though).
It’s a false choice because we don’t spend that much on science compared to the federal budget, and it would do us some good if we doubled the budget of all the scientific research organizations in the federal government (like the NIH, NASA, and the NSF).
C’mon…let’s not get into partisan mud-slinging. If you don’t like Trump, fine. But the thinly veiled implication (“As always, Conservative darling,..”) that all conservatives are clueless on science-based issues is a bit insulting.
Hey, we already spend more as a nation on road repair (about $68 billion annually, according to http://www.pothole.info/the… ) than we do on NASA! ($17.5 billion)
But, as Brett mentions, it is a false choice. Space exploration is important, and so is maintaining our national transportation infrastructure. One doesn’t need to come at the expense of the other, and there are plenty of other places to trim the fat in our national spending.
I have had to remove/delete half of the posts here because you children did not get the message last time about being jerks, going partisan, or just being insulting. So that’s it. No more comments allowed on posts related t election 2016.