this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
301 points (96.0% liked)

Technology

59472 readers
4837 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

US concerned NASA will be overtaken by China's space program::undefined

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] grue@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

To be fair, it's not as if those things are mutually-exclusive. For example, you know how the Hubble Space Telescope is this extremely unique and nigh-irreplaceable scientific instrument that cost a pretty big fraction of NASA's entire budget?

Well, it turns out we actually have dozens of the damn things; it's just that we couldn't be bothered to actually point more than one of them away from Earth instead of towards it.

Hell, a decade ago the National Reconnaissance Office gave NASA a couple for free 'cause they just had 'em lying around, but (as far as I know) NASA hasn't managed to scrounge up enough money from the couch cushions to spruce 'em up and launch 'em yet.

They certainly don't have to be, but there is a well established pattern of the US government getting waaay too chummy with corporations to the point that it can undermine what's best for the people in pursuit of corporate interests.