Newt Skywalker Promises Moon Base by 2020 Today in Florida, where’s he’s pimping for primary votes, Newt Gingrich offered his “bold vision” for the U.S. space program. And that vision is a moon colony. An American moon colony. From New Scientist: Gingrich said that he would like to eventually see a colony established on the moon, though he did not give a timeline for achieving it. He added that he had once proposed legislation that would allow a moon colony of at least 13,000 Americans to petition to become a US state, and that he still supported the idea. What for, you ask? For research, manufacturing, and tourism. Because without a viable space vehicle to take even a half-dozen people to near-Earth orbit, we can certainly build satellites and tour the cosmos by 2020, right? Of course, Kennedy made it happen. More on that in a sec. And just when you think he’s pandering to the space industry, he goes and says that NASA is “spending too much time studying things”? … Gingrich complained that NASA was spending too much time studying things rather than building and testing technologies. “We’d be better off to do 1 percent of the current studies and 10 times as many experiments,” he said. I’m not sure what that means, but whatever. Of course, George W. Bush had this idea, too. But it proved too expensive considering that a moon colony has questionable real benefit. Besides, can we even afford that kind of stuff? Nope: At the height of the Apollo programme in the 1960s, Nasa’s budget rose to 3.45% of America’s GDP – reflecting the sort of funding needed to get major human spaceflight projects going in short amounts of time. After 1975, Nasa’s budget dropped below 1% of American GDP and the space agency entered what many might call its wilderness years … That figure has remained under 1% ever since and, in the past decade, has hovered around 0.5% of GDP. I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to the moon? But if we’re just gonna throw out ideas with no basis in reality, I’d like to build an exact replica of the Enterprise from a base on Mars, staff it with bikini-clad clones and a full bar, and then take a pleasure cruise to Alpha Centauri. For America. (via Short Sharp Science and The Guardian)
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Newt Skywalker Promises Moon Base by 2020

Today in Florida, where’s he’s pimping for primary votes, Newt Gingrich offered his “bold vision” for the U.S. space program. And that vision is a moon colony. An American moon colony. From New Scientist:

Gingrich said that he would like to eventually see a colony established on the moon, though he did not give a timeline for achieving it.

He added that he had once proposed legislation that would allow a moon colony of at least 13,000 Americans to petition to become a US state, and that he still supported the idea.

What for, you ask? For research, manufacturing, and tourism. Because without a viable space vehicle to take even a half-dozen people to near-Earth orbit, we can certainly build satellites and tour the cosmos by 2020, right? Of course, Kennedy made it happen. More on that in a sec.

And just when you think he’s pandering to the space industry, he goes and says that NASA is “spending too much time studying things”? …

Gingrich complained that NASA was spending too much time studying things rather than building and testing technologies. “We’d be better off to do 1 percent of the current studies and 10 times as many experiments,” he said.

I’m not sure what that means, but whatever. Of course, George W. Bush had this idea, too. But it proved too expensive considering that a moon colony has questionable real benefit. Besides, can we even afford that kind of stuff? Nope:

At the height of the Apollo programme in the 1960s, Nasa’s budget rose to 3.45% of America’s GDP – reflecting the sort of funding needed to get major human spaceflight projects going in short amounts of time.

After 1975, Nasa’s budget dropped below 1% of American GDP and the space agency entered what many might call its wilderness years … That figure has remained under 1% ever since and, in the past decade, has hovered around 0.5% of GDP.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to the moon? But if we’re just gonna throw out ideas with no basis in reality, I’d like to build an exact replica of the Enterprise from a base on Mars, staff it with bikini-clad clones and a full bar, and then take a pleasure cruise to Alpha Centauri. For America.

(via Short Sharp Science and The Guardian)

Source: newscientist.com

98 Notes/ Hide

  1. sakalgirl reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    For America. Ha, well said./sarcasm...has no idea what implications a moon base has. To...
  2. wittgensteins-beetle reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    Gingrich complained that NASA was spending too much time studying things rather than building and testing technologies....
  3. inflectional reblogged this from jtotheizzoe
  4. quantumscoot reblogged this from 2bpencil
  5. 2bpencil reblogged this from jtotheizzoe
  6. porkchopsandwichez reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    LESS SCIENCE FAGGOTRY AND MORE PUTTING THINGS ON THE MOON! NEWT GINGBATCH 2012 BITCHES. The fact that we have to bum...
  7. geeememaresquared reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    Holy fucking shit. I’m so conflicted on this.
  8. greatmindsofscience reblogged this from jtotheizzoe
  9. the-feeling-of-swade reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    Please nominate Newt… he can’t win.
  10. be-n reblogged this from jtotheizzoe
  11. m4ddy said: Pathetic as it may be, at least he’s talking about it. None of the other candidates or Obama care or make any mention of space, its endless possibilities, or human space flight returning to America.
  12. freecityrhymes reblogged this from jtotheizzoe
  13. undesirable-carrotface reblogged this from catbountry
  14. catbountry reblogged this from oldmanyellsatcloud
  15. nickshred reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    Lol I second the replica on mars idea.
  16. arielnietzsche reblogged this from omchomsky
  17. raybucklad reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    This, this, 1000 times this. Yet another example of Republicans just talking. Like, just saying shit that’s in their...
  18. digitalspark said: Exactly … and it probably gets worse before it gets better.
  19. darjasays reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    Is he gonna get the Serbs to build it? Because there really is no point otherwise. Amirite Kennedy?
  20. lanarz reblogged this from jekoh and added:
    (link: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)
  21. bewarethestewy reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    This would be really funny if it weren’t so sad.
  22. omchomsky reblogged this from adailyriot
  23. feedmesushi reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    the moon a US state? ughh the audacity to even consider suggesting that is painful. they’d probably come up with a Stop...
  24. elusivemusings reblogged this from pieceinthepuzzlehumanity and added:
    I better be able to go, too. Just sayin’.
  25. tolivebythesea reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    RAZZIT FRAZZIT NAZZIT YOU PEOPLE WHAT THE Dear American Government, Please FOR THE LOVE OF GOD try to remember that...
  26. stillhidden reblogged this from sosanguine and added:
    There are times when it’s hard to believe that this guy is for real. And yet, he’s been around for ages, people have...
  27. underconsumption reblogged this from jtotheizzoe
  28. jekoh reblogged this from jtotheizzoe and added:
    THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. LET’S NOT STUDY ANYTHING. LET’S JUST BUILD SHIT AND TOSS IT OUT THERE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. LIKE...

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