Actual Costs for the Space Station

Cujo writes "This article in space.com discusses what the actual costs of the space station have been since it was first proposed by President Reagan in 1984. Depending on how you account for the cost of shuttle launches, the number is well over $40 billion in the U.S. alone. It begs the question of what else could have been done with the same money and far superior management."

National debt.

[thinkninja]

Could have decreased it considerably. Or built a huge shrubbery...Nee.

we could have

[k3v0]

fought a whole lot more in the war on drugs... hope the sarcasm doesnt drip on anything important.

Is $40 billion really that much?

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, consider how much was blown by dot coms durings the 90s. Atleast space exploration is neat.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

We make good space station already for much less money!

easy

[Lord Omlette]

1. Tell Congress to give us the money and stay the fuck away until it's time for us to ask for more money.
2. Put two Soyuz capsules up there so two people can do science while another three do maintenance. A sixth person can be any random rich person paying oodles of cash for the opportunity to scrub toilets IN SPAAAAAAAACE.
3. Let the Russians handle station operations. If that's disagreeable then hire as many Russians away from Russia as needed. They know how to handle space stations, we don't.

Re:Holy fuck that's a lot of money.

[dildatron]

Dear Sir,

Could you please express the amount of money in a currency we slashdotters could understand? We prefer either metric assloads or libraries of congress.

Thank you,

slashdot

Better use for the money

[nule.org]

Think of how many farscape episodes this could have produced!

Dyslexia and rhetoric..

[thinkninja]

Gets you modded up. Okay.

Re:Nothing

[DAldredge]

There is another option. Pay down the debt/reduce taxes.

Re:Waste of money

[Anonvmous Coward]

"sending people to space is cool and all, but why not use the resources to find a cure for cancer or aids or do something for the homeless?"

Because an aerospace degree doesn't automatically make you eligible to cure cancer?

so actually...

[newsdee]

...if we force the trend-setters to stop wearing makeup, so "fashionable" people stop buying it, we could afford a second space station.

Looks like the old Geek vs. Jock perceptual rifts in high school values... :-)

Pure Irony.

[DarkHelmet]

...was first proposed by President Reagan in 1984 ... begs the question of what else could have been done with the same money and far superior management.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd find it incredibly ironic if with another 40 billion in funding we'd be able to cure Alzheimers....

Take that, Reagan!

Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

That would be a "Mir-acle" HAHHAHAHAHAHA. Oh man, that wuz good.

Do what the Golgafrincham did

[Target Drone]

For $40,000,000,000 we could have built a B Arc [google.com] and got rid of the useless third of our population.

I'd estimate...

[Wireless Joe]

It begs the question of what else could have been done with the same money and far superior management."

Well, with a corrupt investment manager from MSDW, Charles Schwab or Fidelity Investments, and considering the present state of the economy, I'd estimate that the $40 billion investment today would be worth, uh, about $3.50 (pronounced tree-fiddy). Maybe the space station was the best investment. At least we have the option to turn it into the solar system's most expensive Mariott and make some of that money back.

George Lucas answered this question

[Ilan Volow]

It begs the question of what else could have been done with the same money and far superior management."

A moon sized space station capabable of destroying rebel bases.

Assuming, of course, there isn't some OSHA regulation against telepathically strangling incompetant middle-level management .

What else could we have done with $40 Billion?

[TootsMutant]

Oh, I don't know.

1. Keep a PC clone up-to-date and leading edge for at least seven years
2. Keep a Jaguar in perfect running condition for ten years
3. Raise five children, including college tuition
4. Shut Michael Moore up for about a half an hour
5. Get the Moxi to market
6. Buy one really cool stereo system
7. Buy enough copies of one album so that the artist will clear fifteen cents in real royalties
8. Finance the next Lucas block buster

Re:you could ...

[Anonymous Coward]

But disbanding the army is a canard.

*ducks*

More than friends...

[EuroChild]

Right now, we are one asteroid impact away from extinction. The ISS is a very important step to ensuring that man-kind can survive a disaster like that.

I'm just imagining the crew of the ISS watching the earth being destroyed below them and then turning to the nearest female crew-member and saying "Do you think we could ever be more than friends? For the survival of the human-race, of-course..."

$379 Billion

[siliconshock.com]

Defence Budget for 2k3 [janes.com]

um... we are going to spend almost 10x that next year in defence alone. We could create a beowulf clusters of space stations instead!!