http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/2004/03/far-flung-finances/ Sci-fi, comics, humor, photos...it's all fair game. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:01:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/2004/03/far-flung-finances/#comment-10195 Hollywood and Space | K-Squared Ramblings Mon, 10 Jul 2006 18:48:57 +0000 http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/archives/2004/03/03/far-flung-finances/#comment-10195 [...] It’s the “spacelaunch” comment that I find most interesting, as I made the same comparison a few years ago, from the other side of the fence: Assuming that the Spirit and Opportunity missions to Mars are typical, price-wise, it doesn’t make sense to complain that we’re “wasting” money on space exploration when a mission costs as much as two summer blockbusters. Manned missions are, of course, more expensive, but robotic missions? If we, as a society, toss away $250 million several times a year on mindless action flicks, what’s so terrible about spending a similar amount to learn something about our universe? [...] [...] It’s the “spacelaunch” comment that I find most interesting, as I made the same comparison a few years ago, from the other side of the fence: Assuming that the Spirit and Opportunity missions to Mars are typical, price-wise, it doesn’t make sense to complain that we’re “wasting” money on space exploration when a mission costs as much as two summer blockbusters. Manned missions are, of course, more expensive, but robotic missions? If we, as a society, toss away $250 million several times a year on mindless action flicks, what’s so terrible about spending a similar amount to learn something about our universe? [...]

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