Space exploration

[Kingpoleon]

Why not have some gimmick to raise another 20-30 billion dollars a year for NASA through a modest tax increase on very high earners? That would get the budget to where it was during Apollo. With that kind of money, it would be possible to safely and quickly all the current goals NASA has from creating a deep space manned vehicle, to creating a deep space space station in 10 years, to landing on Mars in 20 years, sending more drones to the Jupiter and Saturn systems, funding deep space telescopes and Physics and actually finding viable planets, to Earth Science.

We could raise some luxury tax or national sales tax of 0.5%.

[GlobeSoc]

Much, much more. Building a working space elevator, for example, would pay huge dividends on the upfront money

How on earth can you claim this with any confidence?

It would be an Erie Canal IN SPACE!

[Person Man]

Why not have some gimmick to raise another 20-30 billion dollars a year for NASA through a modest tax increase on very high earners? That would get the budget to where it was during Apollo. With that kind of money, it would be possible to safely and quickly all the current goals NASA has from creating a deep space manned vehicle, to creating a deep space space station in 10 years, to landing on Mars in 20 years, sending more drones to the Jupiter and Saturn systems, funding deep space telescopes and Physics and actually finding viable planets, to Earth Science.

We could raise some luxury tax or national sales tax of 0.5%.

A luxury tax is good but I don't want this to be something that people who would struggle paying taxes already to be chaffed by if it isn't necessary. What would a 1 or 5 point tax increase on incomes above $500,000 (top .5%?)  look like in terms of revenue?

[°Leprechaun]

It's very simple. Take all the money wasted on military spending and spend it on technology, including the space program. I'm all for the peaceful exploration of space so I voted "more''.
(and it's "military" spendng, not "defense" spending, by the way)

What is war good for? Absolutely nothing.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I view space exploration as a total waste of money.

[SoLongAtlas]

More money, esp on fast travel, exploration, identification of viable Earth-like planets and potential asteroids, comets, etc. that could hit Earth.

[AGA]

It boosts the economy, so yes.

[The_Doctor]

Lots and lots of money for NASA. They return $7 for every dollar invested. And for the record, government has to fund research that private industry wouldn't necessarily find feasible. It's private industry that can often deploy the research commercially and mass market them but often, there are areas of scientific research that simply don't get the private investment they should get. NASA is one such example given the massive amount of money and scale needed to achieve what we want (and the inevitable cost overruns). They still return a huge amount of scientific discovery and technological advancement for the money we put in.

The government is the only agency that can deploy the resources needed and sustain the losses on a ongoing basis. Oh, and people whining about this, should remember one little thing. DARPA and the thing you're connected to? That's government funded scientific research that was deployed by private firms for commercial and non-profit deployment.

I'd easily give NASA $50 billion to play with a year and 4-5 defined missions. I'm fairly sure that after 8 years of this, the returns on the scientific discovery and technological advancement would be amazing. Ditto tons of money to agencies like DARPA and military R&D.

[Unapologetic Chinaperson]

The destiny of humanity is to reach for the stars. As it stands now, it's only a matter of time before we extinguish ourselves via climate change and/or nuclear war. Even without those concerns, life only has 500 million to 1 billion years left on this planet before the Sun warms and boils the oceans.

And without life on Earth, human or otherwise, what's left? As far as we know, Earth is the only place in the vast expanse we call the Universe where life exists. If that is gone, that is it - no life, no consciousness, nothing that will be there when the Universe dies its lonely heat death.

Having said that, space exploration is a pretty big effin' deal, don't you think?

[The_Doctor]

The destiny of humanity is to reach for the stars. As it stands now, it's only a matter of time before we extinguish ourselves via climate change and/or nuclear war. Even without those concerns, life only has 500 million to 1 billion years left on this planet before the Sun warms and boils the oceans.

And without life on Earth, human or otherwise, what's left? As far as we know, Earth is the only place in the vast expanse we call the Universe where life exists. If that is gone, that is it - no life, no consciousness, nothing that will be there when the Universe dies its lonely heat death.

Having said that, space exploration is a pretty big effin' deal, don't you think?

Also this. I agree with this 100%.

[vanguard96]

More private money. Space X is just the tip of the iceberg for what could be a very exciting next few decades.

I know there are a lot of subsidies/tax breaks helping so it is not 'purely' private but the competition ideas are great instead of NASA, European Space Agency, China and Russia's state sponsored versions.

And they have cooler space suits.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/08/23/spacex-space-suit-reveal-elon-musk/

[Sirius_]

More money, esp on fast travel, exploration, identification of viable Earth-like planets and potential asteroids, comets, etc. that could hit Earth.