NASA Getting Hand-Me-Downs?
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It's no secret that the people at NASA have had problems lately. They've suffered cuts in funding, the space shuttle had to be retired with no viable replacement ready, and their next generation "Constellation" rocket program got canceled. One of their signature achievements, the Hubble Space Telescope, is getting old and creaky, and there's really no good way to maintain it without the shuttle or something like it.
NASA got some good news recently, however, when the folks from the National Reconnaissance Office rang them up.
You may never have heard of the NRO. They don't go out of the way to promote themselves, because, as we shall see, they really don't need to. They're the agency, working under the aegis of the Department of Defense, that's "in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America's intelligence satellites," to quote their website.
Their motto is "Every Breath You Take We'll Be Watching You." (Actually, I made that up. Their real motto is "Vigilance From Above," which is slightly less creepy.) To carry out their mission, they've got lots and lots of cool gadgets and gizmos.
So many, in fact, that they apparently haven't gotten around to using them all, as NASA discovered when the NRO called and said, "Hey, we've got a couple of space telescopes we aren't using. They're sitting in the warehouse, still in the original shrink wrap. You want 'em?"
Apparently, the Spooks in Space have these satellites with telescopes at least as powerful as Hubble's. You know, the type of high resolution lenses that may not be able to read your newspaper over your shoulder like in the movies, but which can pick out an object the size of a baseball from hundreds of miles above the Earth. This will be very useful if the Chinese ever want to field a World Series contender.
The truly amazing (and somewhat frightening) thing is: Those are the ones that they let sit in the warehouse because they're already using better ones. Lord knows what those things can do. Probably count the change in your pocket.
So it occurred to some bright boy or girl at the NRO (a place, one assumes, that has no shortage of bright boys or girls) that if you turned a high tech spy satellite around and pointed it at the stars rather than at the Rooskies or the Chinese or whomever, you'd have a couple of Hubble-level scientific instruments.
The NASA people, of course, immediately accepted the unexpected gifts. Although they're not completely sure how they're going to use them yet, they're happy to have them, and I'm happy for them. But I have to confess to a certain amount of annoyance as well.
Think about it. The Hubble cost, at last estimate, $2.5 billion. Considering the amazing discoveries scientists have made and continue to make about the universe using this device, I'd argue that it was well worth it. Still, NASA had to lobby hard for funding, and it's having to hunt even harder trying to find the cash for the Hubble's planned replacement, the $5 billion James Webb Space Telescope (named after a NASA administrator, not the Virginia senator).
Some scientists are worried that the Webb telescope will eat NASA's entire astronomy budget. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has two Hubble-level telescopes it never even bothered to use.
Look, I'm all for a strong defense. And I think keeping an eye, electronic or otherwise, on the people who would do us harm is a great idea. I'm glad the fact that there's an organization like the NRO means that a massive, bolt-from-the-blue strike like Pearl Harbor can never happen again (although as the catastrophes of Sept. 11, 2001, showed, an attack doesn't have to involve fleets or armored divisions to be devastating).
Still, there's something wrong with our priorities when science goes begging and the DoD has high tech wonders just lying around. That's not fully funding defense, that's wastefully overfunding it in a time when the rest of us are being told that what we peons need is austerity, austerity, and more austerity, and when the men and women who do the actual fighting are scandalously underpaid.
But, hey, maybe we should ask the NRO to poke around in the warehouses some more. Who knows? Maybe there's another shuttle in there somewhere. Or even a Millennium Falcon. It'd be one wild garage sale, that's for sure.
Dusty Rhoades lives, writes and practices law in Carthage. Contact him at dustyr@nc.rr.com.
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Comments
The_AnonymusProfit 11 months, 2 weeks ago
...................Holy shit...............
Dusty!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone stop and look, Dusty wrote a non partisan editorial. And its great!!
Satellites in storage, hell yea give them to NASA.
Great article Dusty.
Bentpan 11 months, 2 weeks ago
WOW Mr. Rhoades this really is a super column, BRAVO
qalnor 11 months, 2 weeks ago
I basically agree with this, one caveat though:
'That's not fully funding defense, that's wastefully overfunding it in a time when the rest of us are being told that what we peons need is austerity, austerity, and more austerity, and when the men and women who do the actual fighting are scandalously underpaid.'
I'm not really sure NASA getting cuts is really representative of peons being told that they need austerity.
dustyrhoades 11 months, 2 weeks ago
AP, Bentpan, thanks.
dustyrhoades 11 months, 2 weeks ago
I'm not really sure NASA getting cuts is really representative of peons being told that they need austerity.
Wasn't meant to be. Both are happening.
fugitiveguy 11 months, 2 weeks ago
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/05/nasa-chief-frontier-better-relations-muslims/
Some of NASA's problems may be related to leadership. Who didn't scratch their heads when this nugget came out. Come on now, lets be honest.
fugitiveguy 11 months, 2 weeks ago
I want our spooks to have the best tech available. You can be sure our adversaries both known and unknown are striving for the same.
dustyrhoades 11 months, 2 weeks ago
If we're going to get back into space, it's going to take all of us, working together.
Nezumi 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Nice article - I've been wondering myself about our space program and when we'll have to stop hitch-hiking on Soyuz' to get to the space station.
dustyrhoades 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Thanks, Nezumi. There's some interesting stuff going on with private companies like SpaceX and Sierra Nevada (not the beer company) creating launch vehicles--SpaceX's Dragon capsule just sent a load of supplies to the ISS, and it's easily converted into a crew carrier. Sierra's working on a tiny re-usable space plane. And now I hear a consortium of billionaires (including film mogul James Cameron) is working on asteroid mining. Stay tuned.
wrich49 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Very timely column, Mr. Rhodes! I just read on Friday that some NASA scientists are trading their pocket protectors (do they even have those anymore?) for aprons and would be having bake sales, car washes and other fundraisers across the country yesterday (June 9) to offset the $300 million dollar shortfall in funding for planetary science projects. Though I applaud their spunk and determination, I'm hoping congress can come up with more funding. However, I'd love one of those Milkyway cupcakes.
wrich49 11 months, 2 weeks ago
link textHere's the link to that story.
nothingspecial 11 months, 2 weeks ago
"Still, there's something wrong with our priorities when science goes begging and the DoD has high tech wonders just lying around. That's not fully funding defense, that's wastefully overfunding it in a time when the rest of us are being told that what we peons need is austerity, austerity, and more austerity, and when the men and women who do the actual fighting are scandalously underpaid."
That's the punchline right there. What are our priorities when it comes to something more relevant to current events than another backhanded swat at defense vs. science lovers? Do we believe that our fighting men are scandalously under paid for what they volunteer to do? If so, who is "fairly" paid? I volunteered for over 20 years as enlisted and officer, volunteered for my salary, and felt well taken care of the whole time.
Granted all of us hate waste. Doesn't every government program waste in this way? Now that we're looking to afford things like NASA that might be more "worthy" than defense, how worthy are our entitlement programs or union benefits for public sector workers - a type of union that FDR fought against because he knew they would be the fiscal death of America? Does anyone stay up at night worrying that federal workers will be mistreated if some minor, cost cutting measures are considered with their unions? How about state government unions, can someone tell me specifically where they were horribly screwed in Wisconsin by the governor's actions?
The_AnonymusProfit 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Nasa has had their ass cut to many times. Space is the next frontier and if we are going to lead that charge we need nasa.
skylinefirepest 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Great article Dusty! We used to be world leaders...now I'm not even sure that we are in the race.
dustyrhoades 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Do we believe that our fighting men are scandalously under paid for what they volunteer to do?
Yes.
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/fort-hood-soldiers-fight-to-make-ends-meet-2199994.html
nothingspecial 11 months, 2 weeks ago
DR, picking and choosing minor points to attack. Example given in article is a PFC with 5 children and a SPC single mother of two, both living off post. This does not by any stretch of the imagination lead one to conclude that our soldiers are "scandalously underpaid."
Skyline, you're right, we're getting further behind in the race but it isn't because of a short 3 year drop in the NASA budget, it's our government education system and our family values, which should be re-focused back to mathematics and science excellence.
honesty2 11 months, 2 weeks ago
A much appreciated change of pace, dr. Had almost given up. It was, and is a tragedy, that NASA was ever charged (by the current president) that its "foremost mission" was to muslim outreach. NS is correct- we need to get back to promoting math/science, or we're going to be in deep trouble not so far down the road.
dustyrhoades 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Why does nothingspecial hate our troops? Why?
teufelhunden 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Did he say that? Where?
teufelhunden 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Great article DR.
nothingspecial 11 months, 2 weeks ago
DR: Why does nothingspecial hate our troops? Why?
I take it that that is meant to be a humorous parody against anyone who dares to speak against a sacred calf cause or group?
AFCHIEF 11 months, 2 weeks ago
DR, nice story. It is sad that the USA is now having to pay Russia to catch a ride to the International Space station.
As for Nothing Special hating our troops up above 1 day 2hrs ago he felt military personnel were sufficiently paid for serving. Not sure this is hating on the military. Thanks to the Reagan years the military started receiving some real decent pay increases.
moonchild7 11 months, 2 weeks ago
You've written another great and insightful piece Dusty about some of the constant problems that our Government always seem to find itself in. I was a Government Employee for many, many years. How many times was I basically told to "Keep good information" that I discovered about this or that, (and that I wanted to share with others) to myself and to my Department?! At times this "information" would have meant that things would have run better and more efficient but "Management" didn't want WHAT I KNEW to be shared, to anyone else. The answer I constantly got was, "Let them find it out for themselves." So, what I'm getting at is that I bet there was someone at DOD who knew years ago about those telescopes but was told to "KEEP IT TO YOURSELF". I have no love for NASA because I think we've wasted too much money on the Space Program but to read that so much money could probably been saved with knowledge of those telescopes really makes me mad. But this is really a problem with our SOCIETY as a whole that we have. Everyone seems to want to have all of the answers to the problems but then keep those answers to themselves and DO NOTHING.
Nezumi 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Speaking of space - here is how the Chinese astronauts did it (other than borrowing a lot of Russian tech): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1278164/Chinas-man-space-Yang-Liwei-reveals-astronauts-ate-dog-meat-strength.html
The_AnonymusProfit 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Moon Child you have been everything under the sun I swear you must be 150 years old to do all you ahve done.
The_AnonymusProfit 11 months, 2 weeks ago
. I have no love for NASA because I think we've wasted too much money on the Space Program - Moon Child
Yea moon you just need to stop posting period.
skylinefirepest 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Moonie, I'm sure that ALL departments of government waste gobs of money. But there are some, and I consider NASA to be one of them, that provide rewards far in excess of their cost. Unfortunately this administration has decided that Muslim studies are far more to his liking than exploration of Space. The problem is that once your great minds have scattered to more productive endeavors it is really hard to attain a former level of excellence.
DoubleHeroides 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Skylinefirepest is right. Once those NASA scientists, engineers and other brilliant minds that have been collected in that organization over the years start to trickle away as the funding for their projects, research and livelihoods dries up and start to get plucked up by private industry or even possibly other governments it will be highly unlikely that we would be able to lure them back into the fold if and when America ever gets back around to looking at innovation derived from a space program. Essentially it means we are shooting ourselves in the intellectual foot.
skylinefirepest 11 months, 2 weeks ago
And Moonie, this is one of the tremendous damages that a single president without knowledge or America's best interests at mind can do. I know we disagree but Obama has been a DISASTER for our great country.
skylinefirepest 11 months, 2 weeks ago
By the way, Moonie, for once I TOTALLY agree with you. ( I just wanted to put this on record because I think it's the first time I've ever agreed with you! ) Had the Clinton administration shared the information that it held with all the agencies or even, Heaven forbid, with the Bush administration it is entirely likely that 9-11 could have been prevented. Even after 9-11 I was told by a senior law enforcement officer that he had attended a meeting where terrorism was discussed and told not to share that information with other law enforcement agencies. The whole purpose of many Moore County First Responders attending the classes at Soccoro and Playas, New Mexico is so that we can share what we might see with law enforcement and hopefully prevent an incident and respond to possible terrorist events properly.
moonchild7 11 months, 2 weeks ago
In the '70's I had a Philosophy/Religion Professor tell us in a World Religions class that one of the most important things that our government should be doing for our country's future would be to STUDY the MUSLIM religion so that any future "problems" could be avoided. This was way before 9/11 but not long after the six day war. This was a college professor, not a military general or CIA Agent. Having a better understanding of that relgion was evidently needed with the creation of OPEC but was avoided for almost 30 yrs. President Clinton didn't hide anything from George because those problems had been festering for all of those years before, so your argument is negated, skylinefirepest; just being DUMB does have consequenses. NASA Scientists need to be put to better use right here on earth. We are a PLANET and we are FLOATING around in SPACE, aren't we? And Profitman, I'm about a hundred years less than you think I am...almost 59 actually and I consider myself a Renaissance Woman having experienced so many more Earthly Adventures than the typical person (man or woman). I think it to be more appropriate for YOU to stop posting Profitman than me. You have so little to say to us.
The_AnonymusProfit 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Au contraire moonchild. First the Clinton Admin did withhold information from the Bush Admin, that much is fact and can be found in the 9/11 inquires.
Second, we know plenty about the Muslim religion, the western world has been waging war with them from over 1,000 plus years. So your argument their is "negated"
Third, NASA scientists, some of the most brilliant in their respected fields should be allowed the funds needed to get us back into space and do so in a manner that would but lunar and martian colonization with in reach in 20 years.
Fourth, You may consider yourself a rubber ducky for all I know, but what is clear is that the only Renaissance you have ever experienced is the festival where they dress up in old clothing and sell beer out of wooden kegs.
Even people that dont agree with me here generally listen to what I have to say, and I am able to for instance in this particular article, tell Dusty how much I enjoyed the article and that I learned something from it. You on the other hand listen to no one, you simply drool everywhere and then wonder why the floor is wet.
Fortunatly for you you have freedom of speech, Fortunatly for us we have freedom of understanding the difference between logic and intelligence and the guy/girl on the corner shouting at the lamp post that it owes you money for washing the jar of pickles.
Charlie Rose makes more sense then you on his worst day.( Though you may smell better, Im not sure how often you shower)
moonchild7 11 months, 2 weeks ago
It's been a LONG Past Due Day that Charlie Rose has made any sense and I do know who you are talking about. He is a sad man but perhaps he's happy even with his constant bathing and reality issues. I prefer Patchouli and Green Tea to his Whiskey and Wine. You did not understand as usual. Didn't Papa Bush invade Iraq? Didn't President Clinton bomb the terrorists? Didn't Georgie Boy also invade Iraq? In fact didn't Reagan and even Carter have "Issues" with the Muslim country of Iran? It's called reading and studying HISTORY before HISTORY studies YOU. We have too many uneducated people who've been working in the US Government. Presidnet Obama has finally started to replace those Dummies but if Mitt Romney with his Puppet Brain and his 1%er Beliefs gets to the White House.....well hold on for the IDIOT BRIGADE. No, Mr. Pest, Obama is NOT the DISASTER you say that he is. He's had a REAL LIFE with REAL HARDSHIPS, REAL EXPERIENCES and REAL SUCCESSES. Mitt Romney is more Plastic and Empty than a discarded Soda Bottle. His laugh is fake, his warmth is cold and his mind is a cabbage patch. Our NASA Scientists can look to the Heavens but must help our Earth. No more Rocket Ships to Jupiter or Mars since they have said all that they have to say.