Gingrich promises US moon colony by 2020

Rosaudio said:
With what money?
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Just what I am trying to figure out. The US has an economy that is rapidly going to pig-squalor and he wants to shell out who knows how many trillions of borrowed money to do what? :wtf:
 
McT said:
Just what I am trying to figure out. The US has an economy that is rapidly going to pig-squalor and he wants to shell out who knows how many trillions of borrowed money to do what? :wtf:
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It wouldnt take trillions. Nasa has been doing their thing on about 9-15 billion a year for decades.
 
"Newt Gingrich promised Wednesday on Florida’s space coast to create a moon colony by 2020 if elected president.

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon. And it will be American," Gingrich told the crowd of roughly 700, taking them to their feet in applause."

Easy to promise when you know that there is no chance of being elected.

When will the gullible learn. POLITICIANS LIE!
 
Lycanthrope said:
I think you know the answer to that one already :p

What amazes me is that these people have so much support. Well, it would amaze me if I didn't live in a country run by the ANC.
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They don't. I read recently that 27% of Americans identify as Republicans and 31% as Democrats. Everyone else is completely sick of these clowns.

What's really incredible is that this party apparently cannot field one decent candidate for this upcoming election.

JStrike said:
The United Nations is nothing without the USA. They are the only remaining superpower in the world. If they want to claim it, there is no other country than can stop them
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There's every country that can stop them.
 
I think the moon is ready for the likes of Gingrich. Put the current Republican candidates into a rocket and fire it at the moon. Might as well throw in Bachmann. There shouldn't really be any need to include suits or oxygen.

Zyzzyva said:
It wouldnt take trillions. Nasa has been doing their thing on about 9-15 billion a year for decades.
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And they've dramatically scaled back what they do as a consequence.
 
This is quite interesting.

Economic impact of NASA funding

A November 1971 study of NASA released by the Midwest Research Institute of Kansas City, Missouri ("Technological Progress and Commercialization of Communications Satellites." In: "Economic Impact of Stimulated Technological Activity") concluded that “the $25 billion in 1958 dollars spent on civilian space R & D during the 1958-1969 period has returned $52 billion through 1971 -- and will continue to produce pay offs through 1987, at which time the total pay off will have been $181 billion. The discounted rate of return for this investment will have been 33 percent.”

A map from NASA's web site illustrating its economic impact on the U.S. states (as of FY2003)
400px-NASA_dollars.jpg


A 1992 article in the British science journal Nature reported:[7]

"The economic benefits of NASA's programs are greater than generally realized. The main beneficiaries (the American public) may not even realize the source of their good fortune. . ."

Other statistics on NASA's economic impact may be found in the 1976 Chase Econometrics Associates, Inc. reports ("The Economic Impact of NASA R&D Spending: Preliminary Executive Summary.", April 1975. Also: "Relative Impact of NASA Expenditure on the Economy.", March 18, 1975) and backed by the 1989 Chapman Research report, which examined 259 non-space applications of NASA technology during an eight year period (1976–1984) and found more than:

— $21.6 billion in sales and benefits;

— 352,000 (mostly skilled) jobs created or saved,and;

— $355 million in federal corporate income taxes

According to the "Nature" article, these 259 applications represent ". . .only 1% of an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Space program spin-offs."

In 2002, the aerospace industry accounted for $95 billion of economic activity in the United States, including $23.5 billion in employee earnings dispersed among some 576,000 employees (source: Federal Aviation Administration, March 2004).
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I'd vote for him if I thought he could pull it off. If as much effort went into space exploration as has gone into war in the last 50 years mankind would be a lot better off as a species. Scientific innovation and invention is the way forward.
 
BobsLawnService said:
I'd vote for him if I thought he could pull it off. If as much effort went into space exploration as has gone into war in the last 50 years mankind would be a lot better off as a species. Scientific innovation and invention is the way forward.
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40 years ago, starting at near zero, in a world where engineers still drew designs by hand, they put a man on the moon in 8 years at a budget which was only double what it is now(adjusted for inflation). The current budget is only 0.6% of the federal budget, so doubling the budget to apollo program levels is hardly insanity when they currently happily spend 50 times that on their military every year. And remember, they had to spend a lot extra because they were starting from zero. Today all the ground work has been done and technology has moved forward 40 years.

Gingrich is right, America has become limp. They need to get some fight back if they want to climb out the hole they find themselves in - a hole literally 700 times larger and growing than NASA's budget. Investing in scientific innovation and exploration will do far more for the national psyche and thus economy than the lame half a percent budget cuts discussed ad nauseum by both sides which do absolutely nothing in real terms. Since Bush left office, the US has added around $5000 billion to the national debt. What exactly have they got for that money?

Ultimately, its not so much about space, its about attitude. Things can get done and the economy fixed if the US get some fight back in them. The bully is eating their lunch.
 
How does he propose paying for this? It can't be by raising taxes.
 
I like the going back to the Moon bit, but I don't like the idea of them claiming it for their own!
 
Liar liar pants on fire.

It is far more likely that China will step on the moon next and the proposed Chinese time frame is far more realistic.

Chinese Human Lunar Landing

16 January 2012 - Although the Chinese government has yet officially committed itself to such a programme, manned lunar landing remains a long-term objective of the Chinese space programme in the 21st century.

There have been speculations about a three-step strategy in China's lunar exploration programme, of which the current robotic lunar probe programme (Chang’e Project) is only the first step. Next China will attempt to land astronauts on the Moon by 2025, followed by a lunar base by 2030...

Read more:
http://www.sinodefence.com/lunarexploration/manned-lunar-landing.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program
http://www.spacedaily.com/dragonspace.html
 
Nicodeamus said:
To be fair to Gingrich, this is his only cool idea so far.
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Fcck yeah. If part of the deal was him putting his cock on a block against it actually happening and I was a yank I'd probably vote for him and hold my breath on abortion issues. :o
 
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