America in decline

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JohnT

JohnT

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Below is a link to a news article covering the latest Chineese accomplishment in their manned space program. This is a sign folks. Over the next 10 years or so, most forecasters agree that China will be the most powerful nation on earth.

China's goals in space are now on par with what this country used to have. I take this as a fightening sign that our place on the world stage is in decline. Gosh, we do not even have a manned space program!

We need to get on the ball!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47995434/ns/technology_and_science-space/
 
the way things are going I doubt this country or any other has 10 years.
sadly this country has been in decline for quite sometime but most people
walk around with blinders on either in disbelief or just not in tune to whats
going on I don't know which. I believe we are all headed for Worldwide economic collapse.
Not Scared. just prepared.. jmho
 
look at all the world powers of the world....the united states is in it's infancy compared to most of them....great britain, france, china....all these countries date back way farther the the mere 236 years the u.s. has been around, and most of them has had some fall or another during their time....it's just a shame ours is coming as soon as it appears to be....they have always said "history repeats itself", and that truly appears to be the case here as well....
 
this is true, "history repeats itself" it's also said
nothing under the sun is new it's all been done before.
too bad we as humans aren't smart enough to learn from our mistakes.
it's amazing how easily we forget.
when I was younger I always thought God made humans too smart because
of all the technology, inventions ect.....
then as I got older I realized he didn't make us smart enough..
 
Our Country has been in decline since we abandoned the idea of a meritocracy and began "leveling the playing field" for people who could not advance by their own talent, intelligence and initiative. Frankly, my friends, it is not bad being 70 and nearer the end than the beginning. Author James Jones (From here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line) felt that we reached our peak with the generation that went off to fight in WWII and I agree. We have been in decline since then, starting with the Roosevelt administration.
 
Manned space programs are incredibly expensive and have very little scientific value. I'm glad my tax dollars are being wasted on other things instead ;)
 
You know I have been enjoying this thread until now.

As we have stated before, no political comments. Everyone sees the world thru their eyes, that doesn't mean it is the same view as everyone else nor does that mean your view is the only right one. Once politics or religion gets involved threads just go to crap in a heartbeat.
 
How would you like to be one of those on the International Space Station when NASA said they will no longer continue with a space shuttle?

Hello we are still up here!!!
 
I'd have to disagree with the whole premise. I haven't been this excited about the U.S. involvement in space since I was a child and the shuttles were first being launched.

What you'll see in the next ten years, in my opinion, is the emergence of the U.S. as the leader of the commercial space industry. With companies like SpaceX getting contracts to supply the space station with supplies and astronauts, the cost of LEO (Low Earth Orbit), will finally shrink rapidly. Add in companies that are not far behind SpaceX, such as Orbital Sciences, and Blue Origin, and you have a competitive market beginning to emerge, and with that will come both improvements in quality and reductions in prices.

On top of that you have several companies working on the tourism aspect of commercial space ventures, from short flights into space to full fledged space hotels.

People bemoan the retirement of the shuttles as some kind of sign of weakness, but remember that the shuttles were never intended to be used as long as they were. In fact, they were intended to be retired more than a decade ago. I contend that the weakness in NASA came to a head around the beginning of this century. The shuttles should have been retiring soon, and their replacements should be on the horizon, but that never happened. And as far as I can tell NASA is finally getting it's head on straight by using the commercial companies that are emerging.

The idea for NASA should be -> do the hard stuff. Once that becomes easier, leave it to the private sector and move on to the next hard thing. NASA should be focusing on the moon, asteroids, and even mars, not LEO.

Just my 2 cents.
 
China has been the largest economy and most technological advanced country 21 out of 22 centuries! Did you think any thing would end this pattern?
 
I hear most of what you guys are saying and agree.

The amount that NASA costs the taxpayer is surprizingly small. When you compare the bottom line of the national budget, then see what portion of that budget goes to NASA, you would be shocked.

If we privatize space (and I think that this is a good thing) then NASA should simply have the role of "govenerning body" and serve only as a stearing comittee and governing body. In keeping with this thought, then NASA should end all active programs, transfer them to the private sector, and reduce it's staff down to just a few hundred people.

My concern is this. We had perfectly working shuttles (although old). Why did we shut the program down, and not have anything new to replace it? We did have the ORION program, but I think that this has been cut. In the mean time, countries like China and Russia continue to make strides in space exploration. I just see this as yet another sign that America is in decline.
 
I think it's important to keep this in perspective. Sure, China is now the 3rd nation to accomplish a space docking. But the gap between China and the US/Russia is staggering. We've been docking in space for almost 50 years now.
 
Jeff180 said:
I think it's important to keep this in perspective. Sure, China is now the 3rd nation to accomplish a space docking. But the gap between China and the US/Russia is staggering. We've been docking in space for almost 50 years now.
Click to expand...

I hear ya, but China has not really been an economic power until recently. In fact, we did not even have established relations with them until Nixon went to China in 1972. It was only recently that they relaxed their comunist stance and turned the country into a more free economy.

Simply look at what China has accomplished in such a short time. A rebuilt and re-worked economy and now a space program that has more ambitious then what we have. They are putting us to shame.
 
Just because China is getting better does not mean we are declining. Why I agree we gave away the farm with free trade mentality. In this case a+b does not equal c. Please note: when our economy slides theirs does too. We are interdependent.
 

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