16 replies to this topic

[cousin it]

It will be making some bright(real fucking bright) passages over North America in the next few days. So, if you still haven't seen the thing, plug your zip-code into the engine, click the button, and it will give times, and direction to look.

Simple Satellite Tracker

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For more detailed information, visit Heavens Above

BTW, the ISS tool bag is still visible with binoculars(see above).

[LISA]

very cool Sman...I am assuming it is like standard military hours right? so for me it is all between 6 ish and 8 ish am....to even hope to see it, the snow has to stop here in the next few days.

[cousin it]

The satellite tracker gives local time; Heavens Above in UT/ZULU/GMT.

[Mr. Roboto]

They should slice n dice NASA and put some money where it counts.

[Timothy]

Nah!!!! one day it will pay off with the little green dudes. just hope that is before the pink dude come.

[cousin it]

They should slice n dice NASA and put some money where it counts.

NASA does count. A lot of the everyday technology(and appliances) that you use is the result of research coming out of NASA. That makes for a lot of jobs. Shit, tax churches! That will bring some money.

[cousin it]

NASA takes about 0.000000006% of the 2.9 trillion dollar budget. The Defense Dept, and affiliated agencies absorb over half of it. That is a bloated pig that needs to be stuck.

[LISA]

maybe if they turned into Celebrity Space Station?? I kid, I kid

[Timothy]

STATION!!!!!!

[Mr. Roboto]

NASA takes about 0.000000006% of the 2.9 trillion dollar budget. The Defense Dept, and affiliated agencies absorb over half of it. That is a bloated pig that needs to be stuck.

Show me that stat....

I'll agree fully about defense, but NASA is a wasteful pig in it's own right.

[cousin it]

Your are wrong! Scientific research is never wasteful. It is the reason we don't live in caves and eat raw meat.

The US national budget for 2008 was 2.9 trillion dollars; NASA received a little over 17 billion. Do the math.

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/

[cousin it]

I should add that I have long been a critic of manned pace flight, and especially the ISS. The science gained from those missions are really negalable. Space is a very hostile environment, and most of the cost of those types of missions goes into making sure the traveler arrives back on Earth alive. Probes can do the same research for, probably??? 1/100 the cost.

[cousin it]

NASA takes about 0.000000006% of the 2.9 trillion dollar budget. The Defense Dept, and affiliated agencies absorb over half of it. That is a bloated pig that needs to be stuck.

Show me that stat....

I'll agree fully about defense, but NASA is a wasteful pig in it's own right.

Something didn't look right, so I double checked; something went haywire. It is around 0.6% of the budget. Still it is a pittance relative to the knowledge and understanding that NASA has produced.

[Macker]

I think the NASA program should receive more money. I do know that they do get some money through mutual funds through the Air Force and other military units. They also do get some "private funding" but no where near what they need. I think that what Punk was saying earlier that there has been cases of contractors charging 600 bucks for a hammer......Maybe I'm wrong? You need both exploration and manned flight...

[cousin it]

Let me defend that $600 hammer(not really that hammer, but...). There is a lot of waste in gov. contracts, but what most people don't realize when they hear things like $600 hammers, or $4000 toilets, is that most of those objects are engineered for a specific purpose, are "one off" items, and have to function in a very hostile environment without failure. The cost of developing a tool for a specific purpose, and then producing just a few of those items is high. BTW, did you know that cordless tools are a direct result of the space program. They were originally developed by NASA for use in space. You can bet those first ones were very expensive.