Jobs, community 'Worth fighting for' (Space Funding in Florida)

[RamblingRose]

Jobs, community 'Worth
fighting for'

BY PATRICK PETERSON • FLORIDA TODAY •
February 27, 2010

TITUSVILLE — The coming collapse of the space
industry has already cost restaurateur Laurilee
Thompson one of her best waitresses.

At a jobs rally Saturday, Thompson, a co-owner of
Dixie Crossroads in Titusville, joined politicians,
teachers and union officials who decried the
proposed NASA budget that will allow up to 9,000
jobs, many held by union workers, to evaporate
from Kennedy Space Center when the shuttle stops
flying after four more missions.

<snip>

“We want you to extend the shuttle,” should be the message, Fisher said. “We want you to hold up all votes on everything until Florida is taken care of. If that stops Washington D.C., that’s OK.”

The end of the shuttle program could cause a total of 23,000 jobs to be lost in Brevard, a county with 12.1 percent unemployment. The economic blow will be deeply felt.


http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100227/BREAKINGNEWS/100227011/Jobs-community-Worth-fighting-for

[RamblingRose]

1. Blaming Obama and the Democrats n/t

[Dappleganger]

8. Those looked like Jacksonville/Palm Coast idiot posters.

They're posting their RW-bigoted garbage all over the place. It's quite disgusting and it's usually the same ones.

[lpbk2713]

10. Just like the Town Hall Meetings.

More paid rabble rousers bussed in by the SIGs.

[2Design]

2. OMG the rw and teabaggers are unhappy to lose their jobs because

they don't want government involved in their lives and don't want to pay taxes - surprise - actions have consequences

[BeFree]

3. Is NASA a socialist program?

[L0oniX]

4. If only they could use the shuttle for war then they'd get the funding.

[Extend a Hand]

5. I grew up in Brevard County

It will be absolutely devastating to that area. It seems to me that jobs should be the top priority right now. And a revitalized, expanded space program would benefit the entire country. I'd love to see stimulus dollars spent on NASA R&D. The science advances resulting from the space program have been breath taking since the very beginning. When things get tough it seems like research and science are always the first cuts. :(

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. Actually the budget for NASA was expanded. It is manned spaceflight that has been cut,

Manned spaceflight has been at the center of a debate for a long time now for a variety of reasons--from cost effectiveness, to the quality of research that manned spaceflight provides.

[Extend a Hand]

9. My dad was a NASA engineer

He worked on the Saturn, Apollo, and Space Shuttle program until his death. I find it hard to believe that the science advances resulting from these programs are in dispute.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

11. What advances has manned spaceflight brought us?

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6859386.html

And even those that support manned spaceflight will usually revert to the argument that the importance of spaceflight is not in the hard science, but rather in the intangible...the hope and inspiration that it brings us. Even the article quoted in the OP seems to focus on what it symbolizes rather than the importance of the science it brings.

Is this symbolism worth it? I'm not sure. But the argument that cutting back the manned spaceflight program is cutting back on scientific research doesn't really hold up IMHO because manned spaceflight has never really been about getting the hard data.

[Extend a Hand]

13. Fireproof clothing for firefighters, self-righting life rafts

are two that immediately come to mind
but here is an excellent list:
http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

FWIW, I believe manned space flight is more than just symbolism, it's the an example of the human spirit the desire for the quest, and the new frontier. I don't imagine that manned space flight will end if NASA is not involved other countries will continue the quest as will private companies (they must see some value there). Many of the arguments against manned space flight seem to be from the small government crowd.

Even if there were not many other compelling reasons for our government to engage in manned space flight, I would argue that at this point in time, during this recession, manned space flight has significant value as jobs program.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. Those are not discoveries of the manned space program. They are discoveries made on Earth

that aided in the manned space program. What *research* has come from the manned space program? It isn't the "small government" crowd arguing against manned spaceflight because these same folks are arguing for MORE money for NASA, just spent on other endeavors such as the hugely successful Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

[Extend a Hand]

15. oh please!

the research was done FOR and as a part of the manned space program. Because it wasn't done in space it doesn't count??!!
:eyes:

Most small gov types would privatize NASA. It's another one of those socialist government programs. The fundies are no friends of NASA either-- NASA employs those evil scientist types you know, like the ones that keep whining about climate change and how old the earth is.

If you as a liberal don't believe that funding for manned space flight should be a priority with all the other problems in the world, I will respectfully disagree. I believe that it is important. But to say that the manned space flight program didn't produce valuable scientific research is just plain wrong.

[Mojorabbit]

12. This will hit that area hard

I moved here when I was a young teen and the space program was winding up. There were a gazillion houses for sale cheap as so many had lost jobs. With the housing situation here that is the last thing we need.

[Dappleganger]

7. More bad news for Florida.

As if our state isn't bleeding enough. Sorry, it's hard to not be cynical after you see job after job disappear.