Allright ... Space Station + possible manned trips to Mars will cost a shit load too ... BUT :
- The ISS is the International Space Station, so not only the US (NASA) pays ! The ESA (European Space Agency) pays a lot too and so does Russia (after they ditch Mir, almost there "spacemoney" will go to ISS)...
- Manned trips to Mars are not for the very near future ... we're talking 10 to 15 years, maybe even more than 20 ...
- Going back to Mars might be seen as a training for Mars, but for science it's not all that interesting anymore ... We sort'a know everything about the moon. And about the training for Mars ... The conditions on the moon and those on mars are VERY DIFFERENT, so I don't think it would be such a good training ...

Or it might be seen as accomplishing the objective itself.

Sorry, the old boredom factor kicking in again.

About the US flag thing:

The flag has a rod that runs across the top to hold it up. That's why the top is perfectly straight and the rest hangs all funny lookin'.

http://www.primeline-america.com/moon-ldg/mlh1.jpg

What?

There are at least 15 different countries working on the ISS. I'll see if I can find the picture that I saw.

the world has had the technology to travel to mars since the late 1980s, but b/c of social issues and such, the governments of the world weren't willing to spend the money at the time
also: why in hell would the government spend billions of dollars on nasa, and all the technology and all the launches (and if anyone says those are fake i'm gonna go nuts) if it were fake?

Really sucks that us Americans are the only ones paying for the ISS. Should actually be called America's space station that everyone else rides for free!:p

I'm gay.

Bullshit ! Ok, the US/NASA pays the biggest part, but I don't think that more then 30-40% of the whole project ...

WTF dude. We knew that like a year ago. And how did you become a Senior Member and not even know the forums use vB code, not HTML.

LOL oh shut up LOL Ok you knew that a year ago.. whatever.. never hurts to freshen the memory!

Just for laughs then, let's see what other country can lift mega ton equipment into space without our beloved and overused space shuttle fleet. I could just see Niberia shooting a volkswagen with it's trunk full of multi million dollar payload into orbit via giant rubberband slingshots. You have any idea how much of our tax money goes toward shuttle maintenance? 30-40 percent my NASA tattooed ass!

Pardon me but are you retarded? It's call the International Space Station because every part that a country works on, they pay for. So either you are talking just to hear yourself talk or I can't read.

I live about 45 minutes from John C. Stennis Space Center... That's where NASA tests the rocket engines for the space shuttle and other space vehicles. Every now and then, if they are testing the engines, I can stand on my front porch and hear the rumble from over 70 miles away. :) The also have the world's largest NASA logo on one of the test facility buildings there...

International, hmmm.
International is used by the U.S. on just about everything.
The biggest of Internationals being our Treasury department being dubbed the International Bank due to our loaning nearly every country aid with no guarantee of ever getting a return. Seems our own rednecks are joined by foreigners in the "Great Welfare Line".


:D:D:D

Wow. Go to www.nasa.gov and read the main news item on that page.

Meteors aren't manufactured on Earth either, big deal. Interesting that NASA feels a need to defend themselves against a hoax.

Ah, well, this proves a point for both sides, click it now!
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/...onent_view.pdf

well everyone acts like its the first time the u.s. government lied.

:D

Yes....We did Land On The Moon.
 

If you did see the special, the guy that thinks that we did not land on the moon only used pictures and poor quality film. Pictures, in '69 were of very poor quality. Film, on the other hand, was much better. Which is why the guy didn't show much of it. Because it would prove him wrong. I will explain everything wrong with that idiot.

Flag waving:
As we all, hopefully, know, there is much less gravity on the moon. And for all of us who are even remotely smart, the less gravity means that the flag will wave even more. DUH! The slightest movement will send it flying in all directions. Just like if you were to shoot a gun off on the moon, you would go flying backwards. Same thing with the flag. Just the motion of him putting the flag up would make the flag wave.

Radiation:
NASA thought about radiation problems. They figured it all out. All possibilities of radiation where blocked out by Moo-Metal (A special metal which blocks major radiation and electromagnetic frequencies i.e radio signals).

If I forgot to explain anything, just e-mail me at Poptart_jr@Hotmail.com
I will explain all.