another blow to underwater research

[archman]

Ugh, I didn't know the budgetary cuts were this bad.
http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i040322b/i040322b.html

NOAA is already massively underfunded to begin with. Oh, the stories I could tell... :hanged:

 

[tursiops]

NASA has a lot of support in Congress becasue it sends lots of money to large, powerful industries.NOAA spends most of its money in-house, with a small amount going to universities.

If we care about the work that NOAA is doing -- and as divers we should! -- we need to tell our Congressmen. Regardless of the Bush budget, the appropriations aremade by Congress...they wield the purse, and they respond to pressure from voters.

 

[bermudaskink]

Sadly, IMO, most Americans are going to be more impressed by a mission to Mars than anything NOAA may have planned One major problem here lies with environmental education and awareness. There simply isn't enough to generate the pressure on governments. If everyone actualy had a clue about the state of the planet, government budgets would change overnight.

 

[archman]

I spend a great deal of time reading posts from Phil Plait's "Bad Astronomy" site, a meeting place for space professionals and people interested in space. It's a lot like this board, but instead of dominated by tech divers, it's dominated by astronomers and physicists.
Anyways, these guys recently linked a superbly written column due in next week's edition of the New York Review. If you'd like to read about the new space initiatives and what it's ultimately costing NASA, check it out. Most of the space professionals oppose the new space initiative, by the way.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17011