Comments on: Katie Couric's Notebook: To The Moon

[kabar77]

Part 1
Katie,
Each and every iota of you broadcasts is the result of space exploration. From your wireless microphone, to the cameras that record your words and images, and to the computer on which I just watched you give your commentary came from manned space flight efforts. Even the ergonomically designed chair (that you for some reason refuse to sit upright in) came from studies kicked-off by NASA.

As Mr. Cowing previously stated, %u201C%u2026There are no stores or banks in space. Every dollar is spent on Earth - and ends up as salaries in the pockets of real people%u2026%u201D

Those are dollars that also go to research on ending disease, eliminating poverty, buying air-time on CBS, and are funneled into innumerable charities.

Consider the enormous amount of those dollars though that go to the government in the form of taxes.

Yes, it is somewhat a self-eating watermelon. But, that watermelon is capable of spitting seeds. With tax money funding new tax revenue, %u2018seed money%u2019 from the taxpayers is spat out aimed right back at the tax paying public.

Sometimes the spat seed manages to strike the taxpayer in the eye and draw tears. The loss of the crews (of what came to be known as) Apollo 1, and the loss of the Challenger, and Columbia crews are a few examples of such tears. Even through our tears though, we managed to develop new technologies to prevent the recurrence of such eye-watering events.

[raneka-2009]

Katie, I'm very ashamed of you as a reporter, a woman, and a person. You wonder if we would be better if NASA money had been spent otherwise the last 45 years?

You've spent much of your career peddling soft news. Have you been dumbed down by your own reporting?

How would the satellites that transmit your news around the country every night have ever gotten there if NASA hadn't had a hand at some point along the way?

Love you show. Please wear shorter shirts.

[recon54-2009]

I recall that James Burke (British Science Historian, author, television producer) gave a factoid in his series "Connections" (that aired on the BBC and PBS). That one little statement has stuck with me for years.

Please forgive me for paraphrasing, but it was along the lines of "During the period of the US Apollo program, American women spent as much money on cosmetics as NASA spent going to the moon."

"Money better spent", indeed.

[pgo-neil]

I wonder if history would be at all different if TV existed in 1492? TV anchors could inform Queen Isabella that her money would be better spent on the ground of Spain rather than supporting wasteful exploration of questionable value.

Why focus on such a small part of the US budget? Surely there have to be other areas we were even less wise in and accomplished even less for our tax spending.

Doesn't modern TV owe a lot to the space program infrastructure for the rockets to lift satellites and the electronics to populate the comm functions of those satellites? To say nothing of the equipment miniaturization that allows ubiquitous camera access anywhere on the ground [of this and at least one neighboring planet].

Of course if Ms Couric has some solid well thought out recommendations on technically achievable directions that meet the current political litmus tests for space exploration, I think it would be helpful if she published those.

Aren't grand explorations expected of great nations?

[rkt-man]

Clueless and shortsighted. I suppose the money would be better spent providing condoms and clean syringes for High School kids instead of creating the opportunity and environment for them to expand their minds beyond the horizon and create a positive, meaningful future for themselves.

Perhaps you should try at least a modicum of research on your topic before you denigrate one of the finest quests humanity has undertaken in modern history to further itself. Every cent of the money you purport has been wasted on the exploration of Space was spent right here on plant earth - ultimately paid to real people who have dedicated themselves to the advancement of mankind.

Have we stumbled along the way, you bet. With any new advancement, no risk equals no gain. Even when we make mistakes we learn something new, we make things better, and we keep going. Which is worse Katie; noble, brave people paying the ultimate price to further mankind, or the hopeless kids that get killed on the streets every day in drug deals gone bad and mindless, ignorant gang violence?

Ultimately, humanity continues to be enriched across a broad spectrum in this quest for discovery, and countless lives have been changed for the better in more ways than you and your contemporaries could possibly care to comprehend. I suppose in your vernacular though, that if it isn't a government social program dispensing taxpayer dollars, creating more hopeless socialist automatons; it must by definition be waste.

[mflembeck]

Historically, it has been the role of the federal government to take a leading role in the development of the infrastructure facilitating expansion into new territory. Whether it was the establishment of an outpost at Ft. Dodge, the construction of navaids across the country to support Air Mail service, or the interstate highway system, Uncle Sam was there to pave the way. Of course, much of that infrastructure also helped to establish the mechanisms for stimulating local economies.
Most of our country%u2019s over-the-horizon frontiers are now covered with parking lots. Filled with cars. Cars driven by real people, with real jobs, paying taxes for the parks that our kids play in, paying for our national security, and fixing the damage caused by Rita and Katrina. Spending the money on the ground, as Katie says.
So after we have the infrastructure to reliably get off the planet, we will make those inevitable discoveries on the moon. And those discoveries will be closely followed by opportunities for commerce. And more parking lots.
So maybe space exploration is important because of Teflon, Velcro, and Tang after all. But not because they are rightly or wrongly identified as spin-offs from the space program. Tomorrow, new Teflons, Velcros, and Tangs will follow along with the other new discoveries enabled by NASA%u2019s transportation infrastructure. And they will ultimately be important because we can sell them.
And protect our country with them.

[markwhitt1]

While some people may believe that NASA's budget should be better spent "on solid ground" on health care, poverty, etc, they would be wrong to suggest that is the case. First, a great country such as ours can spend money on all of those pressing problems, as well as the War on Islamofascism, with a little (.7 percent of the federal budget) on space exploration. While money allocated to NASA has not always been wisely spent (and what government agency doesn't have its wasteful spending?), the space program has still given our country much more than it has taken, in the pursuit of science, the development of technology, and the exploration of an unknown frontier. The potential gains in science and commerce are too great to even entertain the thought of not continuing to fund the space program.

By the way, all money spent on space is spent on the "solid ground" of Earth. There are not yet shops of banks elsewhere.

Mark R. Whittington
author of Children of Apollo

[roci1-2009]

Your ability to sit on the sidelines and throw bricks is unmatched. Why not get off the dime, and cover the story like a real reporter?
Pay the Russians their $20 million, go over to Star City, and put your money where your mouth is. Walter Chronkite deserves it far more than you ever will, but at least you'll have the experience to back up your hot air.

Roci

[kcowing]

Katie continues to whine about this stating "I can't help but wonder what all that money could do for people here on planet Earth" Gee, Katie, why don't you step up to the plate? I know you do some charity work, but what do you really need $60 million for - even after taxes? There is a new Cholera vaccine being produced for 20 cents a dose. Every million dollars CBS gives you for reading off of a teleprompter represents 5 million lives that could be saved. $60 million represents a possible 300 million lives saved. To borrow your phrase "I can't help but wonder what all of your money could do for people here on planet Earth".

[kcowing]

Katie clearly has the laziest staff in television. Either that or she spent all of 30 seconds thinking about this herself. She sits there in front of the camera and complains about NASA's $17 billion budget and wonders whether that money could be "better spend on solid ground". Well guess what Katie, it is all spent on solid ground. Every penny. There are no stores or banks in space. Every dollar is spent on Earth - and ends up as salaries in the pockets of real people - and profits for companies who buy advertisements on CBS so as to pay your enormous salary ($60 million over the next 5 years)

If you really were serious about the topic you'd have had some of your staff do a little research before trying to cram an analysis of American budgetary priorities - into a cute little sound bite. If you are so outraged why not complain about things that truly have no social value - the money we as a nation spend on makeup, pro wrestling, lottery tickets, and TV anchor salaries? Think of all the money spent on these things that could be channeled for a greater good.

[smrredstone]

Ms. Couric, your thoughtless comments on the space program belie a complete lack of professionalism on your part.

Your simplistic suggestion that our astronauts do nothing more than "watch the world go by" from the space station is absurdly ridiculous, if not appalingly ignorant.

If you had simply visited NASA's website, you would see the immense value of the experiments that they are conducting.

And as you 'can't help but wonder' if the $17 billion budgeted for the space program could be better spent elsewhere, how about asking the same questions of those responsible for the Iraq war, which has already cost us $330 billion, and is forecast to reach more than $1 trillion by the time we are able to leave.

Many of us can't help but wonder what we have received in return for that money, much of which appears to have been squandered by incompetent administrators and unqualified contractors.

Never mind the lives we have lost, or the thousands of injured that we have suffered.

When put in this context, can you not see what a disservice you do to public debate, when you put forward such thoughtless commentary?

Right now we do not need 'infotainment' stories, softball questions and dumbed-down commentary. We need serious journalists to do their research, put things in context, and ask the tough questions.

I'd ask that you please live up to that responsibility.

[scso76raw]

Your news is so ONE WAY. Did you forget that your job is to report ALL the news and let the viewers make their opinions. You go out of your way to report half of the story to reflect the views you have. Katie makes me sick as it is very obvious she is attempting to send a message that is half truths to appear to be an authority of which she will never be and attempt to make a name for her self. As far as NASA goes it is money well spent as a majority of the people of the United States agree that this is money well spent for the future of the United States. Shaffer is a idiot that should have retired many years ago as it is obvious that he thinks his opinions really count. He needs to be placed in a home for the elderly as he offers nothing.

[klatham3]

I was disappointed by the assertion that the NASA budget is of questionable value. The value of NASA, science, and engineering research has been demonstrated countless times. One has only to look around to see examples everywhere of new products, innovations, and ideas that dramatically enhance quality of life worldwide, and that sprang directly or indirectly out of original scientific and engineering research that was part of the space program (computers, software, satellite technology, adhesives, new materials and polymers, medical imaging, the list just goes on; kids can check out http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spinoffs2.shtml).

This part of our nation's history is something that everyone needs to appreciate fully and applaud. Perhaps Ms. Couric should consider doing a commentary on this point, taking a more positive and celebratory message to viewers about the accomplishments that enhance our daily lives. NASA historians could likely provide that information quickly. One can find this information easily on the web or in published books, if one has a desire to look for the positive.

The $17B NASA budget pales next to the huge sums of money being spent in more destructive pursuits. Instead of questioning the value of science, people should question the value of war, unrestrained assaults on the environment for short-term profit, habitat destruction, and species extinction. Ask instead, "How much good could our tax dollars do if spent for constructive purposes?"

[atlantis_one]

Yes I believe in God, yes I feel that taking prayer out of school was wrong, trying to take the words %u201C one nation under God%u201D out of the pledge of allegiance, our fore fathers shed their blood for this country, and yes even today innocent blood is being she for us so that we might live in a free country, yes we can blame the way we were brought up on our problems of today, but why can%u2019t we admit our wrong if we do something wrong in stead of hiding behind our past? And say well I was brought up this way and I can%u2019t help what I%u2019ve did was my own fault, to me our country has grown soft, we are not the proud country that we once were
We have let people like George Washington, Ben Franklin Thomas Edison, and Martin Luther King Jr. Down, They prayed each day for guidance, I Have to hand it to Lee Greenwood on his song %u201CGod Bless The U.S.A., he loves this country, and is willing to stand up for what our forefathers stood for, and so am I, can you say the same thing?

[stacylharp]

I can understand why you're wondering of the money for space exploration has been spent well. I have the same thoughts, but I do think the space program is important.

As for poverty and all of that, well, if the dictators who are oppressing their people in the world would actually care about their people, most of the world's poverty would be wiped out.

Just something to think about.