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Hedy Lamaar invented the concept of the mobile phone and broad spectrum communications, laptops came out of Xerox PARC, efi cars were invented by Bendix and NASA was formed in 1958 to take control of the space program away from the military (or at least attempt to) and put it into a more accountable civilian agency. We have no need of a mob of chest beating, macho, uber-patriotic fools running around out in space as our representatives. First thing they'll do is shoot first and then we'll suffer the consequences of their stupidity. What we need is intelligent, considerate and cautious representatives. People who are smart enough to see through any hard sell or spin any aliens we might meet (in the future) may want to push our way, and be able to stand on our own if need be, but diplomatic enough to know when not to start wars or upset anyone of importance. However, they also need to be accountable to the citizenry of the planet and not beholden to a small cadre of government or secret organisations....accountable to no-one but themselves. Military and civilian objectives rarely meet and even where there are military who support a broader cause, they usually aren't the ones in those positions to be able to make any changes.
BTW...NASA's budget is around $15.8 billion a year, 0.58% of the national budget. They spend more on currying favours with lobby groups each year than they care to spend on space.
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