NASA's Profit Mission
from the commercialization-under-fire dept
There are plenty of products on the market these days that claim to have been created as part of NASA's space program. Now, Newsweek is looking at how NASA's commercial efforts have come under fire. This apparently started well before the recent Columbia disaster, as many people are wondering why NASA should take part in any commercial activities at all. Defenders of the program point to some of the results and say that it's great that NASA can apply it's resources in a way that gives something back to society. Others, though, think that it's a waste of time and money (since NASA often pays for the research, and gets little in return). Even worse, some think it may be a distraction for NASA.
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What's the use of space exploration?
Even with unmanned satellites, the new frontier is looking to be unmanned airplanes in the stratosphere that could serve all the same functions at a lower price. The search for new life forms is proving to be much more productive in underwater environments. Until there is a way to cheaply travel light years away to earthlike planets, maybe about 500 years from now, manned space exploration is a white elephant.
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NASA
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