As smart as NASA?

[Nell#2]

I don't think it's a waste of cash if they can crack the plasma heating issues that renewable energy needs, for years it's been a running joke that tomack reactors and the like are always 10 years from working without using more energy than they produce.
Or they will build a death day for trumps space army.
It's going to be the fastest man made object to date

 

[Screwdriver]

It's going to be the fastest man made object to date

By a long way. In fact that is the biggest problem. We are already "travelling" at 67,000 miles per hour by virtue of being in orbit around the sun.

You know that thing when you spin, then pull your arms in and spin a lot faster? Multiply that by a million and you'll get a flavour for what this spacecraft has to overcome. I think they are sending it on a loop around Venus to slow it down with some (very) clever dynamics.

It ain't called rocket science for nothing!


<edit> NASA developed Velcro for the Apollo missions. Isaac Newton invented the catflap.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

They would keep the same amount of trades in work making new MRI machines with the same cash...not going all political here but just saying

We should be spending more not less on it tbh. At the minute all our eggs are in one basket.

 

[Gragson]

"Extinguish soon"? . Mankind on the other hand is set to extinguish soon; 500 years is a racing certainty but I'd happily stick my neck out and suggest we may be lucky to survive the next 100 years the way we are going"

Bit of a dystopian prediction which alas everything driven towards relentless “market growth” is oblivious to, and will ensure delivery – by deliveroo perhaps..?

Didn’t think this would rattle that much – meant as a guess on possible answers, but its all open
Directed scientific research has been around for a fair while and brought massive benefit and insight ( and latterly massive profit like pharma)..
Undirected or why/what / how type of research has been going on since man was able, and has probably advanced and benefitted more.

Yes it’s a massive amount of money, but a fraction of pointing missiles at each other, and could bring some amazing discoveries – including better missiles to point at each other.