Obama Considers NASA Pentagon Merger

[decatren]

http://www.newsoxy.com/nasa/article11744.html

The Obama administration is considering a plan that will merge NASA with the Pentagon. Combining the space program with the Pentagon could help NASA with additional funding for future missions.

By Mary Couchman
Published: Mar 20, 2009 07:43 AM GMT
Updated: Mar 22, 2009 18:20 PM GMT
Obama Considers NASA Pentagon Merger

The Obama transition team is exploring ideas on merging NASA with the Pentagon. The decision on such a amalgamation, if there is one, would probably benefit the current race to the moon as other countries are accelerating with their space programs.

"Obama has said the Pentagon's military space program -- which spent about $22 billion in fiscal year 2008, almost a third more than NASA's budget -- could be tapped to speed the civilian agency toward it's goals as the recession pressures federal spending," according to Bloomberg.

China has recently progressed in its space program and has conveyed the nation's first space walk this year. The country plans to land a robotic rover on the moon in 2012. If China accomplishes their goal to set foot on the moon, it will equal similar space exploration virtues with the United States.

Obama is considering the NASA Pentagon merger because it makes better financial sense.

Obama believes that it makes better sense to merge the Pentagon space program with NASA. The two programs are highly expensive and the Pentagon already spent a third more in costs in the past year than NASA. The merger could also be a collective effort with some of the most advanced scientists in the world to lead America back to the moon.

"No one really has a firm idea what NASA's cost savings might be, but the military's launch vehicles are basically developed. You don't have to build them from scratch," John Logsdon, a policy expert at the National Air and Space Museum who has conferred with Obama's transition advisors, said in a statement.

NASA will retire its space shuttle program next year.

The space shuttle program ends next year which will give NASA a 5 year aperture to return to space using the new Orion spacecraft. The Orion will be used to transport astronauts to the International Space and the moon using Ares I and Ares V rockets. The Pentagon is in favor of such a merger with NASA.

[phill4paul]

:eek::eek::eek:

F*cker. The earth is not enough. Now we must police our universe.

[Aratus]

i heard nasa was once joined at the hip with the nsa in the IKE era 1950s...
the korean war had jet aces, we indeed got many of our early astronauts
from this talent pool. okay, now to have DoD doin' our Mars shots... okay!!!
if we get drafted, would we be sent to mars as a hypothetical mission, maybe?

[orafi]

what has nasa accomplished with our billions that is useful to society where benefits outweigh those costs? is it practically a shame?

[tremendoustie]

:mad:

[He Who Pawns]

What is the point of this? We throw away trillions on useless nonsense, but the only decent federal agency there is - NASA - has to beg for scraps and get absorbed into the military? Fuck that.

I do agree with the argument that space exploration is a national security issue. Not only does space have the most severe consequences were it to be neglected, but also I am of the opinion that the survival of the entire human race depends on our ability to GTFO this rock in a hurry, before a biological weapon or nanotechonolgy run amok or whatever wipes us all out.

[tremendoustie]

What is the point of this? We throw away trillions on useless nonsense, but the only decent federal agency there is - NASA - has to beg for scraps and get absorbed into the military? Fuck that.

I do agree with the argument that space exploration is a national security issue. Not only does space have the most severe consequences were it to be neglected, but also I am of the opinion that the survival of the entire human race depends on our ability to GTFO this rock in a hurry, before a biological weapon or nanotechonolgy run amok or whatever wipes us all out.

Make no mistake about this, this is about NASA resources, especially personnel, being used for military technology development, it's not about funding. If they wanted to fund NASA as it is, they could.

[RonPaulCentral]

:eek::eek::eek:

F*cker. The earth is not enough. Now we must police our universe.

Do you not already believe that the space program already IS all about the military? You don't actually think our government sends up shuttles and spends hundreds of millions of dollars to study how fish farts react in zero gravity do you? LOL

98% of space missions already ARE military purpose missions.

[zach]

Government transparency, LOL.

Centralize the way we operate in the universe to the one spot that covers everything up.

Geez.

[idiom]

Do you not already believe that the space program already IS all about the military? You don't actually think our government sends up shuttles and spends hundreds of millions of dollars to study how fish farts react in zero gravity do you? LOL

98% of space missions already ARE military purpose missions.

The DoD already has a Space budget twice the siz of NASA and thats the bit we know about.

Nasa still gets a return of $5 dollars of GDP expansion per dollar spent on it. The rest of the system averages 20c per dollar.

Nasa could be creating a risk shield allowing a much larger private space industry to develop, jobs that can't be outsourced because no one else can do them. Instead the DoD just gives Lockheed pork love.

This could leave civilian Space flight wide open to the private companies, but it is more likely that the FAA, the DoD and other agencies will shut all private space travel and industry down.

[He Who Pawns]

Make no mistake about this, this is about NASA resources, especially personnel, being used for military technology development, it's not about funding. If they wanted to fund NASA as it is, they could.

That's what I'm saying. If they want to give more money to NASA, then just give it to them. If they want NASA to use military boosters, then just increase the cooperation a bit. This merger seems very suspicious and useless IMO.

[idiom]

A merger of these two is the best play to shutdown the nascent private space industry in which several billionaires have invested large amounts of their own money in an end run around Nasa.

[A. Havnes]

So, does this mean NASA is going to be secret?

[phill4paul]

Do you not already believe that the space program already IS all about the military? You don't actually think our government sends up shuttles and spends hundreds of millions of dollars to study how fish farts react in zero gravity do you? LOL

98% of space missions already ARE military purpose missions.

Yes.

[He Who Pawns]

NASA = admired by nearly all Americans and citizens around the world.
US Military = not so much.

This will just drag down NASA's image and support.

[tremendoustie]

NASA = admired by nearly all Americans and citizens around the world.
US Military = not so much.

This will just drag down NASA's image and support.

You bet it will.

[silverhawks]

Next up: The War on Martians.

"Fellow Americans, it has come to my attention that this world is being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own. As we busy ourselves about our various concerns, we are scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. No one gives a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger...until now. I am submitting to Congress a bill to launch a preemptive strike on Mars, appropriating 10 gazillion dollars worth of federal funds. Fear not, for we will spend this mountain of loot wisely. Beware, for the Martians and their technology are invisible, and completely silent. We will fight their fear and terror with our hope and change, and be ever vigilant against the Martian threat!

[Mitt Romneys sideburns]

so. . . Im guessing this means we are about to start building a fleet of hundreds of stealth nuclear equipped ion starfighters that will never be used in combat?

[tremendoustie]

so. . . Im guessing this means we are about to start building a fleet of hundreds of stealth nuclear equipped ion starfighters that will never be used in combat?

Are you saying that you are willing to risk the safety of the American people by not having these star fighters? What if the vogons attack, and you never again get to experience a McDonald's hamburger, how will you feel then? Think of the children!

[tangent4ronpaul]

NASA and DoD are already joined at the hip. When I worked at NASA on a comm sat, 1/3 of our channels were classified.

I applied to NRO's FFRDC (The Aerospace Corporation) and am incredibly bummed that I did not get the job. NRO is the most contractor heavy agency in the US Intel community, being run by CIA and AFI. 90% of their personnel are contractors.

It's unfortunate that our civi world space world personnel are sometimes scratching their heads while their black world equivalents are snickering at them because they have already solved the problem under consideration.

-t