Trump wants to privatize the International Space Station

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 02/11/2018 at 11:59 • Filed to: None

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No, really.

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For Sweden > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:06

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Energia is a private company, right? Because I can’t imagine a company could afford to run it without government subsidies.

fintail > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:09

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I am sure the Russians his kids meet with could get involved and make it work.

404 - User No Longer Available > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:13

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Starting to think Trump’s idea of running a country is like Buy ‘n Large. He thinks he’s the CEO.

boredalways > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:20

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TRUMP INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

5-star accommodations start at just $11500.00 USD/night.

Make your reservations at trumputin.biz.

Opening January 2021

Maxima Speed > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:27

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Ok, so?

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:35

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Me every morning listening to NPR about Drumpf....

ttyymmnn > Maxima Speed 02/11/2018 at 12:39

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We’ve invested billions of dollars and have international treaties to help run it. We should just dump it?

Otto-the-Croatian-'Whoops my Volvo is a sedan' > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:41

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unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:42

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No we’re going to build a WALL around it and make the aliens pay for it!

Cash Rewards > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:48

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I mean, I don’t think we should. But a decent argument could be made considering we (the government) can’t send up any astronauts but have to rely on the Russians, while private firms like space x are demonstrating the ability to fill the gap. Right now we pay the Russians, when we could pay an American company instead.

Chariotoflove > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 02/11/2018 at 12:54

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For years I listened to NPR on the way in to work. I stopped because I felt like I was feeding my brain with lots of only one side of a picture. I imagine it is the same with my coworkers who listen to hours of conservative talk radio. I don’t want to be filled up with biased perspective from any pint of view. Problem is, it is a lot of work to gather news from several sources, triangulate on the bits that are not skewed by presentation bias, and then form my own view point. It’s so much easier to take what is fed to me.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 12:56

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Well I think in this case Drumpf is definitely the bad guy, when you get to foreign cities, hop in a cab and they ask you, “what the hell is going on in the USA sir?” I think it’s safe to say the shit has in fact hit the fan.

Dusty Ventures > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:59

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Ash78, voting early and often > 404 - User No Longer Available 02/11/2018 at 12:59

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“Welcome to Costco, I love you.”

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 12:59

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I think that, in general, space flight must move to the private sector to progress to the next stage of access, ubiquity, and sustainability. I think that the devil is in the details here. Our considerable investment in this specific station can probably be leveraged into advantages for American business, but I didn’t read any proposals in the linked article. It read as if there aren’t any yet. It doesn’t sound like it would be a good idea to just pull government funding without other plans in place, and I can’t think the administration would do that without something else going forward. At least I hope not.

Maxima Speed > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 13:00

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NASA wants to go to the Mars and the Moon, but that requires funding. Trump want to cut funding, so what this would allow is for funding to be diverted from ISS upkeep to other cool stuff, while we still reap the benefits of having science stuff going on in the ISS. Private sector (such as SpaceX) is more than capable of handling this kind of thing. I think private sector is the way forward of space travel. Competition breeds innovation.

Edit:

Also. I thin its fair to say that our millions “invested” are not actually creating a monetary return. However they are giving a knowledge return. The key being that there will still be things to learn while the stations is partially run by private companies. We could also be still running our astronauts up to the station, to do stuff.

Chariotoflove > boredalways 02/11/2018 at 13:01

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I know you kid, but this is actually one useful business model and not a new one. There are of rich people who would pay for a trip to a space station. Why not take their money?

Chariotoflove > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 02/11/2018 at 13:04

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Oh, I won’t argue on Trump’s behalf. I was just talking to your point about how you feel about life after listing to NPR. It gives you a certain viewpoint that definitely does not leave you optimistic about our current government. On the other hand, when I hear some of the conservatives rant in support of Trump’s activities, I am not encouraged either. So, I guess in this case, my triangulation method leaves me with the face in your gif anyway.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 13:08

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For sure, I think his party is just stuck with him for now and they tolerate him. But recently they have been making more comments! Like in response to his military parade idea....

Chariotoflove > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 02/11/2018 at 13:11

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They are in a rock and hard place situation, no doubt. My wife and I have been wondering whether he will be challenged for the nomination at reelection time. That would make for an interesting election year!

wafflesnfalafel > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 14:04

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hock it on eBay

Vítor > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 14:22

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I don’t know how this could work. The ISS isn’t owned by the US, it’s a joint project of Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada as well (it’s called International Space Station, after all). The US simply leaving the joint without a immediate private sucessor would cause great annoyance to other members, and even then I fail to see how the private party would get any profit from it since monetary gain was never the purpose of the ISS

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Maxima Speed 02/11/2018 at 14:48

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And going to the Moon did not have immediate returns on our investment either.

Sometimes it is worth publicly funding things that benefit everyone even though we don’t always see immediate results.

190octane > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 15:00

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Ultimately the facts are the facts and “fair and balanced” is a bunch of horse shit. Don’t fall into the two sides of every story crap.

boredalways > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 15:36

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Depends on who’s taking their money

Steve in Manhattan > ttyymmnn 02/11/2018 at 15:42

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Will Morena Baccarin be waiting for me?

Seriously - untrained people would get in the way of the science that’s being done. This would wreck the program, which is perhaps the point.

These people will trash the place for a total of either 2 or 4 years, then the grownups will have to clean up the mess and repair our reputation where possible. Our glorious democracy - cherish it.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 15:51

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take their money and once enough of the top 0.1% is up there blow all the seals

then impound all their moneys and assets and use it to help the worlds poorest

(my moral compass is a little broken)

WilliamsSW > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 16:54

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It could be, but you’d have to look at the cost/benefit of doing it. A system for getting (highly trained and very fit) astronauts up there, providing for them, and getting them back down safely might not actually work for 70 year old yahoos with more money than they know what to do with looking for the ultimate thrill. See also: Mt. Everest.

That said, if it *can* be done profitably, it could be done either by NASA or a private entity. Although the optics would be bad if it were NASA, to be fair.

wafflesnfalafel > boredalways 02/11/2018 at 18:09

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just don’t eat the food there...

Chariotoflove > 190octane 02/11/2018 at 21:17

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The facts are the facts, but sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what the facts are. These days, news gatherers present the facts that support the story they want to tell. Check that, they always have. It’s a business after all.

Chariotoflove > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 02/11/2018 at 21:19

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Lol, ya think?

Chariotoflove > boredalways 02/11/2018 at 21:19

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Whoever owns the station and the means to get to it.

Chariotoflove > WilliamsSW 02/11/2018 at 21:20

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Someone’s going to figure out how to monetize space travel, or else it will stay a niche endeavor reserved only for governments with the budget to support it.

WilliamsSW > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 22:10

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Well, what it has been up to this point is basic research. A valuable thing, for sure, but who knows if it can be monetized eventually. It doesn’t seem to be ready for that just yet, to me.

Chariotoflove > WilliamsSW 02/11/2018 at 23:04

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Elon is banking that it is. We shall see.

WilliamsSW > Chariotoflove 02/11/2018 at 23:19

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He’s an interesting character - very smart, very rich, and has a lot of great ideas.

He’s certainly good at raising investor money, but I’m less confident in his ability to actually make a profit with those great ideas- but I hope he *does* make the battery thing work at least.

190octane > Chariotoflove 02/12/2018 at 15:37

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Yes and no. Obviously you have to take what certain partisan hacks say with a grain of salt, but I don’t think NPR is trying to shove the liberal agenda down your throat like fox is with the conservative agenda.

Chariotoflove > 190octane 02/12/2018 at 15:51

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No, not as overtly, but there is an obvious partisan leaning. Then there is one’s starting perspective. I remember the time a caller called in to the Diane Rhem show to call them National Petroleum Radio and accuse them of being in the pocket of the conservatives and big oil. So yeah.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > boredalways 02/12/2018 at 16:00

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I think you meant trumputin.ru not .biz

boredalways > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. 02/12/2018 at 17:07

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Shush it...they are trying to keep a low profile.

And are spying us right now.

/s

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > boredalways 02/12/2018 at 17:38

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EEK! *dons tinfoil hat.