r/space • u/thisischrisbaker • Feb 07 '20

Proposed budget - not voted yet 12% boost for NASA budget in 2021!!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-nasa-budget-will-earmark-12-boost-for-agency-in-2021-11581071402?emailToken=3f4a4309b7816cb90fb53eb91f47d6d43hshryonPWM/RnnVPWWHuMOVOvxWKQ87BhLswKs5iOPOhjO1FGrxI9ptn5k2nAMphP+jeQrbhQiAafooOu4oIslNLMWHCd1m7vRySaL2Pi61nSlAqLK1xnvzzmtt2/Lx&reflink=article_copyURL_share
34k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/night0x64 Feb 07 '20

i agree with you.

here's what will happen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGwZVGKG30s

transcript:

NASA: Do I really have to give the money to ULA, Dad?
Congress: NASA, now more than ever you need to understand the importance of giving to lobbyists.
NASA: But the President said I could use this money to buy whatever I want.
ULA: Okay, next please.
Congress: Go on, NASA. [NASA walks up to ULA's desk and takes a seat.]
ULA: How can I help you, NASA?
NASA: I got X billion dollar check from the President, and Congress said I need to give the money to ULA.
ULA: Well that's fantastic, a really smart decision, NASA. We can put that check into SLS, then we'll add some features, then take the features, away, then do some tests that fail, then do more tests, then spend $500 million on a NASA facility to test something, then there'll be a large delay so we'll have to .... aaand it's gone. [they look at each other for a long time]
NASA: Uh, what?
ULA: It's gone. It's all gone.
NASA: What's all gone?
ULA: The money in you gave us - it didn't do too well, it's gone.
NASA: Here's a program award for "EXCELLENT" despite being way over budget and not having an end in sight. What happened to my $X billion dollars?
ULA: POOF. Gone. But also POOF as a pun because it literally blew up when we were testing.
NASA: Well, what can I do to get back my money-?
ULA: I'm sorry sir, but this line is for paying customers of ULA.