Le 02/08/11 17:56, Pat Flannery a écrit :
On 8/1/2011 10:50 AM, jacob navia wrote:
This will allow for significant savings for other, more important
endeavours. For instance servicing the debt costs (only in 2010)
413,954,825,362.17 US$, almost 414 billion in ONLY ONE YEAR.
(Source:http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/r...ir_expense.htm)

Compare THAT figure to spending in space exploration (around
15 billion) and you will see how ridiculous all this talk is.

Saying that space exploration costs only 15 billion a year misses the
point; it's a whole pile of things that cost only a few billion each
year that make up the budget shortfall.

Pat

No. The principal culprit is the military and the wars. The U.S.A
spends 43% of all the world military expenses. The next country after
the U.S.A. is China with 7% of the world military expenses. Then come
all other countries of the world.

The U.S. has no enemy. After the soviets disappeared the miltary
searched frantically for an enemy that would justify the waste
and they were lucky: Bin laden came to fill the gap.

But now he is dead, and the question arises again:

Must the U.S.A. spend all by itself 43% of the world military
expenses? Without any country that opposes them?

Penny wise and pound foolish. Eliminating space exploration
will not solve any budget shortfall.