Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Bill Nye fears U.S. space exploration in jeopardy over budget cuts

From Examiner.com:  Bill Nye fears U.S. space exploration in jeopardy over budget cuts

Recently, Bill Nye, the "Science Guy" shared his fears that U.S. space exploration could be in jeopardy if the Obama administration cuts NASA's budget any deeper. Nye says that global warming and an asteroid impact, among other things, could be thwarted if funds continue pouring in.

In a CNN report on July 2, Nye shared his opinions about Obama's planned cuts of $300 million from NASA's planetary exploration budget. As the head of the Planetary Society, he has become one of the leading opponents of the measure.
"This is a deep, deep concern. All the budgets are being cut. We gotcha, budgets are being cut, budgets are being pulled back, yes, yes, all good.
"But investment in space stimulates society, it stimulates it economically, it stimulates it intellectually, and it gives us all passion. Everyone, red state, blue state, everyone supports space exploration. So I understand the budget has got to be cut, but something has gone a little bit wrong."

Bill Nye also said if the United States cuts back on NASA's space exploration budget, the world faces two preventable events, global warming or climate change and the threat of an asteroid impact.

He believes that more can be learned by sending astronauts up into space to study the impact man-made emissions have on the planet from afar. Often times, clues about how the Earth is changing can be studied from technologies like those used in the International Space Station.

What's more, the "Science Guy" believes that continued funding allows NASA to develop ways to prevent the annihilation of civilization from a large asteroid impact.

"If the Earth gets hit by an asteroid, it's game over. It's control-alt-delete for civilization. So what we want to do is to develop the capability to redirect, to deflect an asteroid, ever so slightly. If you're going to do that, you've got to have space exploration," Nye added.

Is Bill Nye correct about U.S. space exploration losing its dominance if NASA suffers further cuts from the Obama administration?

 

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