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Originally Posted by Fusilier
Yes, you are right - that wasn't very correct of me. What I was still trying to say though is that they're pushing their life expectancy.
The costs of upgrades just for safety measures alone over the years have arguably made it not worthwhile or financially proportional at all to continue with the decades old craft. A replacement has been needed for a while. Talk to retire/replace began in the 90s... almost 20 years ago.
Agree 100%. Only through international cooperation will I think that has a chance though. The resources needed are enormous and the government's focus always seems to elsewhere.
To illustrate that, the entire NASA budget is averages out to be only around 3% of the US military budget. And science often takes a backseat whenever it comes time to chopping costs. For example, when the government first cancelled the SETI program's budget, the cost of maintaining the program was that of a single attack helicopter - yet it was cancelled.
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My cousin told me that NASA budget was similar in size to what it takes to buy and use air conditioning for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.