NASA planetary science budget woes

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the challenges facing NASA's planetary science budget, particularly in light of recent funding shifts and potential impacts on scientific research. Participants explore the implications of government funding decisions on space exploration and the role of private sector involvement in scientific endeavors.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants reference articles discussing NASA's funding situation, indicating that the planetary sciences budget is expected to face significant cuts in 2014.
  • One participant suggests that the government is gradually shifting space exploration responsibilities from NASA to the private sector, citing a perceived lack of support for "pure science."
  • Another participant expresses a desire for a reallocation of defense budget funds to support scientific research, proposing that even a small percentage could lead to significant advancements.
  • Contrarily, some participants challenge the feasibility of colonizing the sun, questioning the practicality and costs involved compared to military expenditures.
  • There are differing views on the job market for scientists, with one participant expressing skepticism about the plight of scientists in the current funding climate.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit a range of opinions regarding the implications of NASA's budget cuts, the role of private industry in space exploration, and the feasibility of ambitious scientific projects. No consensus is reached on these issues.

Contextual Notes

Participants express various assumptions about the allocation of government budgets and the priorities of funding agencies, but these assumptions remain unexamined and unresolved within the discussion.

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This is from last week (I was on vacation and then I worked like a dog to make up for the vacation):

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Nature news article on the subject: http://www.nature.com/news/nasa-funding-shuffle-alarms-planetary-scientists-1.14304
Eric Berger on the subject: http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/1...netary-science-will-nasa-soon-stand-for-nada/

NASA escaped the 2013 sequestration without trimming too much substance. This will not be the case for 2014, with the planetary sciences budget appearing to be taking the greatest hit.
 
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I wish the government would take just 1% of the defense budget and put it into science. With that much money, we could colonize the sun.
 
Wrong.

The NSF alone has a budget about the size of 1% of Defense. That doesn't include NASA, DoE or NIH.
 
Eh, honestly it's hard enough for scientists who work in areas where there should be jobs to find jobs, I find it a bit hard to sympathize with people who basically won the job lottery.

They'll just have to find real work like everyone else now...
 
Vanadium 50 said:
Wrong.

The NSF alone has a budget about the size of 1% of Defense. That doesn't include NASA, DoE or NIH.

What percentage of it would we need to colonize the sun?
 
leroyjenkens said:
What percentage of it would we need to colonize the sun?

Look at how much it cost just to colonize Afghanistan. Yeah we were fighting insurgents but that's probably easier than fighting the sun. Easily larger than 100% of the defense budget.
 

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