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by jerf 5458 days ago
Yes, when you pour money down the money hole, you do tend to get a few things in return. My real question, which we'll see answered hopefully over the next few years, isn't "Were the capabilities we got with the shuttle cool?" but "Was the shuttle a cost-effective way to obtain those capabilities?"

And it's really hard to look at the Shuttle program and say yes.

In general, we really need to get over whining about what we could have if only we could spend money we don't have.
2 comments
jamesbritt 5458 days ago
And it's really hard to look at the Shuttle program and say yes.

How effective/efficient would a tax-payer supported version of Xerox PARC or the Golden Age Bell Labs be?

Something more pleasant than DARPA, for example.

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russell 5458 days ago
Funny thing about that. Bob Taylor ran ARPA and then Xerox PARC. May be that he was his own golden age.
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maaku 5458 days ago
Nothing funny about it. The analogy is good. Garrett Reisman, astronaut, joins SpaceX:

http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20110304

The time of NASA-monopoly (DARPA) is fading, and the time of commercial space (Xerox PARC/Bell Labs) is just beginning. But it really shouldn't be anything for anyone should get worked up over--Xerox PARC/Bell Labs ushered in golden age of innovation and wealth creation, and DARPA still exists and still does amazing things.

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ippisl 5457 days ago
You can't compare it this way. Xerox Parc and DARPA are research organizations.

NASA is a research and development organization. they products that are used in real life.

Usually development and deployment cost much more than pure research.

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protomyth 5458 days ago
What is your problem with DARPA?
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jamesbritt 5458 days ago
It has a military focus. I'd like to see devlopment with a broader scope. Like how to teach more people to read. Or farming.
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protomyth 5458 days ago
In the US, USDA funds a lot of farming research and DoE has its own labs for energy research.

Military and Space seem to have a lot of civilian offshoots. Probably because of focus and demanding environments / specs.

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artmageddon 5458 days ago
Fair enough, but keep in mind that DARPA did bring us the internet...
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IanDrake 5458 days ago
>we really need to get over whining about what we could have if only we could spend money we don't have.

I don't think it could be said any better. What we do have now is a privatized space race which is priceless.

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