Space agency for the PEOPLE.

I was just thinking about things... I am wondering, what would it take for a space program to be put together that is controlled by the people, not the government? Create another space agency, similar to nasa, except its controlled by the people. Therefore no information would be withheld from us. It could concentrate more on long distance travel, and finding life on other planets.

Of course it would take a lot of money to get started, and a lot of money for it to keep running. Is there no possible way this could happen do to the sheer expenses?

If it all possible i think this would greatly help mankind take a step forward in this universe.

so the money would be a problem... but if someone like the guy who owns virgin mobile (he's already helped out with spaceship 1 i think?) would simply take a hit for a few years and give up their own personal islands to better the human race-- it may be possible. why is it that the super-rich never want to do anything like this-- i guess money does corrupt people... I think hearing other ideas on how to start it may be kinda interesting though. maybe just start with a space station or somethin and go from there. maybe cooperation from the world space agencies could be established too with the station serving as a supply/refueling point for national program shuttles at first.

Such an agency would be quickly sabotaged. Too much tax money goes through NASA and into black projects. Any competition would be taken out, tout de suite.

Do you really think the administrators of the American government will allow Joe-SixPack to decide what gets done with the frontier of space? That's prime real estate buddy because it's directly above your head and your backyard. They've got satellites up there that look down on you.

[edit on 24-3-2005 by smallpeeps]

I guess the common logical retort to this would be that the government is supposedly controlled by the people hence... Obviously the reality of this is limited since any government that witholds from its people as reversed the control factor so that it is in control. Maybe it is time for a new government?

Space doesnt belong to the government.... How could mankind let them control it?! That would be like saying mankind cant set up a scuba organization, and create submarines to explore the oceans!

I was thinking a lot about the guy who owns the Virgin company, his name is Branson..? I think. Anyways, this man has been talking about creating spaceships to take tourists in to space. I dont understand this, obviously all he can think about is how to make more money... He could focus that same technology in a slightly different way, to help mankind as a whole.

Do you really think the administrators of the American government will allow Joe-SixPack to decide what gets done with the frontier of space? That's prime real estate buddy because it's directly above your head and your backyard. They've got satellites up there that look down on you.

I'm fully aware of this, something has to be done with our government now anyways. I think this might be a good place to start.

As far as money, i was thinking of this being a world thing... not just American. Therefore it would be like a world space organization, for the entire earth. I think we are making a mistake by keeping things split up between countries.

I also think making it a world issue will keep the government out of it more. It concerns them in no way once it becomes an Earth affair.

Originally posted by antigovFZ777
I was thinking a lot about the guy who owns the Virgin company, his name is Branson..? I think.

Richard Branson (same guy who tried to fly none stop around the world in a hot air balloon and failed miserably, several times).

Richard Branson (same guy who tried to fly none stop around the world in a hot air balloon and failed miserably, several times).

Yes, thats his name. Thanks.

LOL. Are you trying to imply that he may not be the best guy for this sort of thing? lol

Well NASA is supposed to be for the people and it was to start with, any organisation like NASA will be susceptable to pressure from politians and countless other forces, all that is needed is much more money and not so stringent safety that it hinders projects. IMO if u are willing to go into space u are also willing to die, i would gladly accept that given the opportunity and so would millions of others.

Indeed.

If NASA was started for the people it got messed up somewhere along the way. Because it is no longer like that. Its for the most part strictly government run.

Well I think we are on our way to multiple "space agencies" for the people. With the x prize and the new prize for achieving orbit and being able to dock with a space station. This will propel private industry into space.

As soon as it becomes profitable to send the public to space, space tourism will explode. Let private industry work!

Hlodde

What are you talking about at the beginning of your post. Why have i heard nothing of that? lol.

[edit on 3/24/2005 by antigovFZ777]

Hlodde is talking about projects like this:

The Ansari X Prize, a competition for private suborbital spaceships, has also evoked the prospect of a new "space race". In late 2004, British aviator-financier Richard Branson announced the launch of Virgin Galactic, a company which will use SpaceShipOne technology, with hopes of launching commercial flights by 2008.

Branson and Spaceship One? No way this thing makes money. It's a sideshow. America has perfected booster technology and solid rockets have never been cheaper. We know how to get into space. This airplane thing is outmoded. Space is about getting into space quickly, as in straight up not gliding like a bird. That SpaceshipOne is not a spaceship.

Any spaceship would have to be built in space and engaged for it's full term in the vacuum of space. It would not be designed for the pull of earth's gravity. It would look more like the abandoned ISS would have looked. That project was sabotaged by very subtle means.

In the movie, "Contact", we see an example of this with the extreme-Christian character who smuggles a bomb onto the alien device and destroys it. That guy is out there in the real world, as well as the film world.

There is no space race. There is only an economic question of who can dominate the layer between us and the blackness of space. That domination is carried out by airpower which the US owns. So long as (1) American planes stay on the cutting edge, and (2) those big aircraft carriers are floating out there, nobody will ever do anything in space that the US doesn't want done. Branson doesn't realize he's being used as a tool to make space look silly and dumb. It actually very serious.



[edit on 24-3-2005 by smallpeeps]

In the movie, "Contact", we see an example of this with the extreme-Christian character who smuggles a bomb onto the alien device and destroys it. That guy is out there in the real world, as well as the film world.

I'm not making the connection here. Can you tell me what you mean by this?

I'm not making the connection here. Can you tell me what you mean by this?

Yeah, this scene is an example of how easily something fragile can be sabotaged. Not only that but it shows what flavor of 'human asset' would easily be used to accomplish the sabotage and cover it --in that case the "Christian Patriot" cover was applied. It's called "the lone-gunman" method. Don't you think that perhaps Oswald, Sirhan, Hinkley, McVeigh, Malvo, etc might be a recurring thread? A scratch on a broken record, maybe?

Billions of tax dollars flow through the NASA trough. We don't know where half of it goes, but it certainly makes some people rich, even if these connections are nebulous at times. That money-flow cannot be interrupted. They will tolerate goofballs like Branson but not any major opponents. I mean, it's nice to theorize about what can be done to explore space, but to remain ignorant of the basic workings of the foundations which space exploration is built upon is to miss the subject entirely. You must have billions and billions of compartmented dollars.

You have noble dreams though, and for that, I commend you.

You have noble dreams though, and for that, I commend you.

Thank you... I suppose they are just that too... Dreams.

No matter how rich you are, you can't compete with the government. As far as budgets, tax breaks, payrolls, intelligence, connections, law-making (and so on) go, you're trumped.

The FAA can just not grant you air space. Then what?

Again though... If this was a worldwide operation, our government would have very little control of it. And if i had a spaceship, i wouldnt wait for them to grant me ****! I would take it where i want in space, and when i want to. Thats MY business! Its got nothing to do with them. If anything, i would TELL them im going. I wouldnt ask anything.

NASA is already the space agency for the people. Criticizing it for being a political agency is funny, since political will is the will of the people. If the people don't want to pay for a certain program, you're criticizing NASA for listening?

Private space exploration will be paid for private businesses and individuals who either think they can make a profit from it or do it just for the thrill or the recordbooks. This is not for "the people" in general, but for particular people who want and can pay for the adventure.

NASA is already the space agency for the people. Criticizing it for being a political agency is funny, since political will is the will of the people. If the people don't want to pay for a certain program, you're criticizing NASA for listening?

THIS WOULD BE TRUE IF WE WERE LIVING IN A DEMOCRACY. BUT WE ARENT. And it doesnt take a genius to figure that out if you look at the facts. How can NASA be for the people and continue to keep information from the people?!