“You think kids actually know the astronauts of today? Their names or what they do? All of NASA’s headlines and front page news (again, just about the manned programs) are about cost overruns and problems.”

Wrong. Just because you are ignorant of something doesn’t make it true. Every day, you see stories about astronauts visiting and speaking with students. Every story has those kids impressed by the visits. Maybe they are not in the big papers, but on a local level it means something. Thousands are visited or interact with students every year. You think that has no impact? Yes, kids know what astronauts do. Check out the Explorer Schools program.

@The Other David M.

“Do you really believe that we are getting more science out of shuttle/ISS than we are the entire freaking NSF? ”

Only you are making this an either/or. That somehow the science from one source is better than science from another source is a small and self-defeating viewpoint. It limits what you can discover and the applications that be created.

Here’s an example. Manned spaceflight inspires people to go into space. Because of that, suborbital space tourism is now being developed. Because of that, NASA is now helping to open up a whole new field of research because of the opportunities becoming available by placing scientific payloads on Virgin Galactic planes. And b

Again, you arbitrarily have decided that engineering has no value. Look at how you’re calculating your numbers. You only count the astronauts, but what about the engineers who build and test the rockets? They aren’t doing science? The tests that go into that have applications as well. And NASA exploration money goes to outside science labs and companies as well as in house, just like the NSF does.

So tell me, how much is a supplement found in 90% of baby formula in the US today worth (life’sDHA and life’sARA)? What about a shoe that will help elderly people not fall that is being tested (iShoe)? Or shuttle-derived aerodynamics research that helps with today’s trucks (airtabs)? Only you are saying this has little value, even though its in use every day life.

I’m not putting NSF beneath NASA. Both have their place and uses. It’s just being biased against manned spaceflight makes you ignore how you are using its tech every day.