 When I was 9 years old NASA was the coolest thing ever. So in a way it's extra-awful to see how NASA sucks now that I'm an adult--- the double-insult of having my taxes wasted and my childhood wonder crushed out.
10 reasons why manned space flight is retarded
- Manned space flight puts human lives at unnecessary risk
- Manned space flight can tolerate no mistakes
- Engineering mistake-free manned space flight is at least 10 times more expensive than equivalent robotic space flight
- So on a given budget we could be achieving at least 10 times more with robots
- The lessons we learn from engineering robotics translate to a huge spectrum of other applications on earth
- The lessons we learn from engineering manned space flight teach us nothing except how to keep fragile pink water bags alive in a radiation vaccuum
- We need to develop better robotics anyway if we ever want smart cars, smart houses, smart planes, smart trains, smart stores, smart cities, smart phones, smart money, etc.
- Running a zero-mistake project takes much longer than a quick-and-dirty project
- Having everyone scared of taking any risk squelches innovation and creativity at NASA
- Sleek futuristic-looking space vehicles containing robots are more neat-o than metal cylinders containing people named "Neil"
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