Is it Just Me? US Space Program Costly in this Economy

Is it just me or does anyone else think that continually flying the space shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS) in this economy is ridiculous. At a time when we are handing out 100's of billions of dollars of taxpayers money to bailout failing banks, automobile manufacturers, and now people who let themselves be duped into buying more house than they could afford with no money down, we should be cutting back on unnecessary spending. Now don't get me wrong, I am pro-science and an environmental scientist myself but every time we launch a shuttle it cost the US taxpayers. The space shuttle Endeavour cost 1.7 billion dollars, and every time it is launched it cost approximately 450 million per mission.

Yes, I now that we have personnel on board the space station that need to be replaced ever so often. The space shuttle also carries vital supplies to the space station. However, It is in the name of the space station, International. The US should let some of the other countries shoulder the burden. The ISS is the largest international scientific and technological endeavor ever undertaken, It draws on the resources and scientific expertise of 16 nations around the world. Canada, Japan, 11 members of the European Space Agency, Russia and Brazil are our partners.

There are other space vehicles. The Russian's have the Soyuz it is used primarily to deliver crews to space. Furthermore, Russian cargo ships have been used to deliver supplies to the ISS. The Chinese have developed the Shenzhou spacecraft to support its manned spaceflight program. The European Union has developed the Ariane 5 , an expendable launch designed to deliver payloads into geostationary orbit transfer orbit or low Earth orbit. In March 2008, the first Ariane 5 ES-ATV was launched to deliver the first Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) called Jules Verne to the ISS. The ATV is an expendable, unmanned resuppply spacecraft. ATVs are designed to supply the ISS with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments. In addition, ATVs can reboost the station into a higher orbit.

So far, 30 out of 44 manned spacecraft dockings have been a US Space Shuttle. The rest have been Russia's Soyuz. There have been 34 unmanned space dockings, primarily Russian. Now, I am sure that Russia's economy is in no better shape than ours, but spending billions every few months to send people to a lab in space does not make sense.

I am not suggesting that we abandon the space program altogether, just bring the brave souls who live up there home and postpone future flights until the economy gets better or keep them up there but let our partner countries shoulder some of the burden.

Undecided about the Federal Bailout

I am not sure what to make of the proposed federal bailout. At first I thought it might be a good idea to keep the US economy from sliding into a terrible recession or even a great depression. I also thought that perhaps the bailout would boost confidence in the stock market ans I could get in on some of the deflated stocks just as they would become more valuable. Now I am not so sure.

If the bailout did not happen I am not sure how it would affect me but I am sure I would survive. The proponents of this plan say banks do not have money to lend. Well I am not planning on taking out any loans anytime soon. I have several credit cards but I pay the balance off monthly. I have a mortgage but unlike the people who got caught up in the whole subprime ARM mortgage scheme, I knew better and had a great credit score, so I got a 6% 30 year fixed mortgage. I also am not trying to keep up with anyone or impress anyone so I bought a modest pre-owned house in a good neighborhood. I have two vehicles paid off so I will not be financing a car anytime soon.

The biggest uncertainty if the bailout did not happen is how it would affect my job. I do not know anything about how their finances work. I do know that they make most of their money on government contracts. We do consulting work for the Corps of Engineers, FEMA, Border Patrol, DOD and many others. We also do work for the private sector. However, if there were a run on banks, how would they pay me? I also have my savings in banks and 401ks. what would happen to that money. Does the FDIC have enough to cover all the the banks that could possibly fail? Would I lose all the money in the 401ks? 401ks are not insured by the FDIC.

I know it is not fair to use taxpayer monies to cover greedy banks and lenders, or ignorant people who fell prey to them. People should know how much home they can afford and live below their means not above them.

Whatever happens I know that I have no control over what congress does, but I do have control over how I react. I am not panicking, I just rode out two hurricanes and did not panic, I was prepared but I was prepared long before the storms formed. I think the same logic should be applied to the economy. I should have been prepared well before the "crisis", and you can bet that next time I will be.