Down the tubes

Say buh-bye to our space program. We now depend on the Russians to get to the International Space Station. The USA spent $72B, the Russians $12B, Europe $5B, Japan $5B and Canada $2B And now, we no longer have the ability to visit -- we have to depend on the Russians. (Thanks Barry!) And now this -- from USA Today:

Report warns of weather satellites' 'rapid decline'
Predicting the weather is tricky enough. Now a new government-sponsored report warns that the USA's ability to track tornadoes, forecast hurricanes and study climate change is about to diminish.

The number and capability of weather satellites circling the planet "is beginning a rapid decline" and tight budgets have significantly delayed or eliminated missions to replace them, says a National Research Council analysis out Wednesday.

The number of in-orbit and planned Earth observation missions by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is projected to drop "precipitously" from 23 this year to only six by 2020, the report found.

That means the number of instruments monitoring Earth's activity is expected to decline from a peak of about 110 last year to fewer than 30 by the end of the decade.

"Right now, when society is asking us the hardest questions and the most meaningful questions, we're going to be even more challenged to answer them," said Stacey Boland, a senior systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and a member of the committee that wrote the report. "We'll slowly become data-starved here."

To channel my inner Steve Martin: Excuuuuuuuuse Meeee! The US Government and State Governments spend 0.3% of their budgets (2012 figures) on Space flight, research, and supporting activities. They spend 16.2% on Pensions, 17.2% on Health Care, 15% on Education, 10.8% on Welfare and 14.4% on the Military. Space (and science in general) is not where we should be cutting. I am not suggesting that we pull the rug out from under Granny but if we stop creating new generations of 'entitled' voters, we would get Government spending knocked back into real numbers in 10 years. You have a pension now -- fine; you will keep it. Coming into the workforce now? There are some new rules. All of these entitlement programs are recent -- last forty years or so. We survived well before then.