What the fuck has NASA done to make your life awesome?

[morningfog]

http://wtfnasa.com/

[Posteritatis]

1. Not sure it'll convince the haters, but awesome nonetheless. (nt)

[lob1]

2. Really neat site. Thanks, morningfog.

[DJ13]

3. Teflon, pens that write upside down

And...... Tang.

[former9thward]

20. The space program tried to claim those products but it is false.

Teflon, Tang, Velcro all were invented before the space program -- in some cases decades before. http://neatinformation.com/science/Space%20Spinoffs.html

[Beartracks]

31. There's an old story about the cost of developing the space pen...

.... Something about the years and millions of dollars that went into R&D of the pen and the ink, getting it to write smoothly and not jam, getting the ink to flow up the tube, etc. It was a great technical achievement and a mark of American ingenuity. The Russians, on the other hand, solved the problem of low-grav writing by using... pencils.



=======================

[nanabugg]

4. Damn, but isn't NASA part of the government that should be feared, hated, and cut? nt

[DBoon]

10. and isn't JPL in the people's republic of California?

where businesses are fleeing due to creeping socialism?

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked, recommended and bookmarked.

Thanks for the thread, morningfrog.

[kentauros]

6. That's a wonderful site!

Thanks!

And it's great to see that the first 'A' in "NASA" is not ignored, like it is with the rest of the media. But I guess aeronautical research and spinoffs can be dull to most. I'm sure the pilots of commercial, military, and hobbyist-flying are more aware of what NASA has done for their safety

[brooklynite]

7. In fairness, they screwed up three launch dates for the shuttle that I have VIP tickets for...

[vaberella]

8. Just having the name NASA is wicked! n/t

[riderinthestorm]

9. K & R!!! My dad was a computer geek at Bell Labs helping with the Apollo program

he LOVES this stuff. Thanks!! Can't wait to email this to him

[Vox Moi]

11. More than I could have dreamed ...

... and it's not perfect.
Sure, there is waste and inefficiency. It's part of the cost of doing business.
Nobody gets it right the first time and NASA has moved on from the Buck Rogers era of mostly manned space flight to the era of robotics.
Robotics is much, much cheaper and missions like Cassini and Curiosity are cost-effective beyond measure.
The space program has already provided raft of tangible benefits such as:
- low-power computers due to the development of CMOS technology
- A host of development in materials technology
- the entire population communications, weather, survey and GPS satellites
- This list is a long one so we'll skip to the primary benefit.
Every time that human beings find out that they are a bit farther from the center of God's Universe, we find that we are not as important as we thought we were in general, but that we are more important to each other. The images from the planets reminds us that we are in the same tiny boat.
The images from the galaxies point out to us that there must be a great many boats, all of them deserving and all to be imagined and discovered.
We may not be an important species in the universe but I'm damn proud when I see how far we have extended our vision. Maybe we'll see as far when looking at each other.
I think we do see better. I think it's worth it.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12. They helped spend money that could otherwise be used to feed the hungry, provide shelter for the

homeless, build schools and provide decent teacher wages for the children and upcoming generation, replace deteriorating roads and infrastructure for America as a whole, ...

[Posteritatis]

13. Seeing as you didn't click the link, can you tell us what NASA's budget is without Googling? (nt)

[freshwest]

14. It's been a great diversion away from those pesky things. It's not going away. Mostly private, now.

[morningfog]

15. Have you looked at the percentage of the budget NASA has compared to everything else?

Seriously. You are painfully naive if you think any NASA money, if the agency were gutted and ended, would go to anything on your list. La la land style.

[Surya Gayatri]

46. Word! Good job you used the "sarcasm" tag--otherwise

some of the blinkered, earth-centric ones might have thought you were on their side.

[RobertEarl]

18. Jobs, Mac, jobs

Jobs that pay taxes. Taxes that build schools.
Jobs that provide money for homes. That makes jobs building houses, that pay taxes for school teachers, who educate future NASA workers whose jobs create more jobs.

Yep.... government spending circulates in the community.
Unlike profits that go into Cayman accounts.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

32. Do you really mean to say that otherwise spending money

to feed the hungry, provide shelter for the homeless, build schools and provide decent teacher wages for the children and upcoming generation, replace deteriorating roads and infrastructure for America as a whole, etc., would not be a more direct and efficient way to produce

Jobs that pay taxes. Taxes that build schools.
Jobs that provide money for homes. That makes jobs building houses, that pay taxes for school teachers, who educate future NASA workers whose jobs create more jobs.

Do you really mean to say that an indirect way of accomplishing those goals are better than more direct ways?

Have we really seen the trickle-down theory work very well?

[RobertEarl]

33. No

But NASA is science based. Like climate science. Like earth science that tells us that more roads and more of some infrastructure is creating more problems. Otherwise how would we know we are changing the planet so badly?

It tells us, indirectly, that overpopulation is, well, not good. How else would we know if we didn't have NASA et al discovering the signs of what we are doing to the planet?

I will say that going to Mars is sorta a waste, but in that we will gain insight into what is unknown and there may be some great benefit. Ya never know until you try.

Hubble. Those pictures are awesome. Without NASA, no Hubble.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

35. "Those pictures are awesome"? Check out the ones at #34. n/t

[DRoseDARs]

19. SMBC has the perfect response...

Edit: You know, on a second reading of your post I find myself wondering if we've been Sarcasm Rickroll'ed...

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2674#comic

[AnotherMcIntosh]

34. If you are amused by your cartoon, you may also find these photos to be funny. A real hoot.

Is your cartoon funny? Somehow I don't think so at all.

[DRoseDARs]

36. Let me spell it out for you: E-X-T-I-N-C-T-I-O-N. We stay on Earth, we're dead. Simple as that.

If you can afford a computer and Internet connection, why are you wasting your money on those when you could be feeding someone else? Are you seeing the problem in your logic yet? The one pointed out in the cartoon?

[LanternWaste]

56. the money and time you or anyone else spends on internet access and/or computers could also assist t

One may think that the money and time you or anyone else spends on internet access and/or computers could also assist the hungry, yet you're still here...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

22. Thankfully, JFK disagreed (n/m)

[AnotherMcIntosh]

28. False equivalency.

JFK approved and inspired a goal of sending a man to the moon and having him safely return.

He explained his goal:

We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained,
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/jfk-space.htm

He did not say that we are obligated to squander money forever on a space program.

He did not say that once Tang was invented, Teflon was utilized, and man landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, we would be obligated to squander money forever. That was never his goal.

1969 was a long time ago. We should do more than live in the past and be nostalgic about old glories.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

30. So you don't think we are gaining any new knowledge?

The Voyager missions, the Hubble telescope, the Mars rover....have given us nothing of importance?

By your logic, we never should have bothered with the moon either. Nothing really important up there either.

"Living in the past" by promoting space exploration? I find that pretty funny, really.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

49. Warren, if I didn't know better....

....I'd think you were making a correlation between some on the left, and those folks on the right who seem to want to keep us in the dark ages by ignoring science and stuff!

Did Ed Meese approve this?

[morningfog]

50. Are you suggesting there is no more knowledge to be gained?

We've figured it all out, huh?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

52. I suggest that, as even illustrated by the posting in this string, neither the NASA nor others

can adequately articulate what it is that they want to gain.

1969 moon landing? Tang? Teflon? Zero-gravity pens? Personal computers? GPS? Hubble space telescope? Velcro? Things that happened in the past, and many in the distant past? Even the cell phones and the electronic tools developed for the NSA are things that were developed in the past. The fact that they are being improved upon doesn't mean that sending more money to outerspace is necessary for such improvements.

Now that man has gone to the moon, are we supposed to rely upon serendipity? What are we trying to accomplish? Even those in this string cannot describe it. There are certain none that can describe it in a rational way without being angry at others who do not see the benefit.

You're welcome to believe that more NASA spending is beneficial. But have you noticed that no one has made snarky comments about your position? Have you noticed that no one has made snarky comments about the positions of others who cannot articulate a goal?

[morningfog]

54. Do you think JFK knew we would

develop gps, cell phones, personal computers, life saving equipment and everything else we have? You can't predict what one advancement will lead to. that is the beauty and benefit of discovery and exploration.

But, you act like if NASA were de-funded tomorrow there would be a influx of money for the homeless and children in poverty. That simply isn't the case.

[LanternWaste]

57. Seems as though you're confusing the words "squander" and "educate"

"He did not say that we are obligated to squander money forever on a space program..."


What you see as mere "squandering", others may just as validly, if not more so, see it as an investment in both education and science.

But I imagine we see those things we dislike in the most negative light we can rationalize to ourselves, regardless of ROI...

[JI7]

25. we HAVE money to do those things, it's more a matter of not wanting to do it

[ProSense]

55. What a dumb comment. n/t

[Kennah]

16. That rocks!

[niyad]

17. earthrise

[longship]

21. The fucking Hubble Space Telescope. The fucking Apollo Program. Curiosity!

How fucking many more?

How about fucking Cassini and the fucking Huygens probe?

The fucking Kepler Mission which has discovered over 2,300 fucking candidate extrasolar planets.

How about fucking James Webb fucking space telescope which needs fucking funding so it can be fucking launched?

How about the fucking B612 Foundation, a derivative private enterprise whose goal is to save the fucking planet!!

I could go on and on. But I'm temporarily out of fucks... Well, I had one more...

[Aviation Pro]

23. Inspired me to become a pilot....

....and I've never looked back since becoming one.

[Betsy Ross]

24. Polymers for fake nails

They are a spin-off of the space program technology.

[Gemini Cat]

26. Great site, thanks for posting!

[progressoid]

27. B.S. An open and free capitalist market would have done the same.

[TlalocW]

29. TAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

'nuff said.

TlalocW

[Joe Shlabotnik]

37. Put whitey on the moon.

[CrispyQ]

51. Velcro. I love it!

Now you can buy little velcro buttons & put them where ever you want.

[Romulox]

53. The Shuttle program seemed like a complete waste. For many of us, that's all we've known. nt

[cpwm17]

58. I think you're mostly right

It's a mistake to continue to put man in space. It's much more economical and practical to send robots.

There is no long-term future for man in space, or in other worlds. We've evolved for billions of years on this planet, and there is instant death elsewhere without extreme costs and measures.

Space probes and telescopes are what currently inspires the public, and at relatively low costs. These also drive technologies and inspire the young to get into science and engineering. This is our future.

[AsahinaKimi]

59. Can I still get this???

If so, I want some!!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

60. NASA is just cool. Period.

For years, humankind has wanted to fly to the moon and to the stars, and dammit, if NASA didn't just decide to up and do it.

That just makes them pretty awesome in and of itself. No further justification needed.