Is it time to "Scrap" NASA?

ALL these guys do is send shuttles into orbit to fix the space junk they shipped into orbit years ago.

I don't know what you're talking about. Perhaps you don't either.

Let me give it to you alphabetically:

NASA's current missions include:

Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
Major mission of the Explorer program.


AIM: Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere
AIM's two-year mission is to study Polar Mesospheric Clouds, the Earth's highest clouds, which form an icy membrane 50 miles above the surface at the edge of space.


Aqua
Aqua, Latin for water, is a NASA Earth Science satellite mission named for the large amount of information that the mission will be collecting about the Earth's water cycle.


ARCTAS
Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites


Astro-E2/Suzaku
The Suzaku mission is a joint effort of JAXA and NASA designed to discover more about the x-ray universe.


Aura Mission
A mission dedicated to the health of Earth's atmosphere.


CALIPSO
CALIPSO will provide the next generation of climate observations, drastically improving our ability to predict climate change and to study the air we breathe.


Cassini-Huygens Mission
Unlocking the secrets of Saturn.

Chandra X-ray Observatory
NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory probes the mysteries of space with unprecedented x-ray images that help to unravel the structure and evolution of the universe.

CINDI
CINDI will study the elements that influence space weather near Earth's equator.

CloudSat
CloudSat's cloud-profiling radar is 1,000 times more sensitive than typical weather radar and can detect clouds and distinguish between cloud particles and precipitation.

Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS)
CHIPS uses an extreme ultraviolet spectrograph to study the "Local Bubble" surrounding our Solar System.

Constellation: NASA's Future
A new generation of spacecraft will carry humans to the moon, Mars and beyond.

Cluster ESA/NASA Mission
The four Cluster spacecraft carry out 3D measurements in the Earth's Magnetosphere.

Dawn
Dawn launched in September, becoming the first spacecraft ever planned to orbit two different bodies after leaving Earth. The spacecraft will orbit Vesta and Ceres, two of the largest asteroids in the solar system.

Deep Impact
Exploring Comet Tempel 1 to determine the origins of life in our Solar System.

Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EP-TOMS)
Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EP-TOMS), along with the Ozone Monitoring Instrument onboard AURA, are currently the only NASA spacecraft on orbit specializing in ozone retrieval.

Earth Observing-1
As the first New Millennium Program Earth Observing Mission, EO-1 has validated advanced land imaging and unique spacecraft technologies.

EPOXI
EPOXI is a low-cost mission that will expand our knowledge of both cometary bodies and extrasolar planetary systems.

Fire and Smoke
NASA satellites, aircraft, and research know-how have created a wealth of cutting-edge tools to help firefighters battle wildfires.

GALEX
Mapping the history of star formation in the universe.

The Gamma-ray Large Space Telescope
The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope will answer questions about supermassive black hole systems, pulsars and the origin of cosmic rays.

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)
GOES-N is the latest in a series of satellites that provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

GOES-O
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-O represents the newest generation of environmental satellites.

Geotail Mission
A mission to study the tail of Earth's magnetosphere.

Gravity Probe B
This mission is the relativity gyroscope experiment developed by NASA and Stanford University to test two unverified predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment
The twin satellites are making detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field to learn more about gravity and Earth's natural systems.

Hayabusa (MUSES-C)
Hayabusa (MUSES-C) is Japan's asteroid sample return mission.

Herschel
The Herschel Space Observatory is a space-based telescope that will study the Universe by the light of the far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the spectrum.

High Energy Transient Explorer-2 (HETE-2) Mission
HETE-2 is a small scientific satellite designed to detect and localize gamma-ray bursts.

Hinode (Solar B)
A collaboration between the space agencies of Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, Hinode's mission is to investigate the interaction between the sun's magnetic field and its corona.

Hubble Space Telescope
The greatest increase in human knowlegde about the universe in the history of mankind.


IBEX
A mission to achieve the first global observations of the region beyond the termination shock at the very edge of our solar system.

Ice Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICEsat) Mission
The ICESat mission will provide multi-year elevation data regarding ice sheet mass balance as well as cloud property information, especially for stratospheric clouds common over polar areas.

International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)
INTEGRAL is the most sensitive gamma-ray observatory ever launched.


Jason
Jason-1 is the first follow-on to the highly successful TOPEX/Poseidon mission that measured ocean surface topography.

Kepler
Kepler will monitor 100,000 stars, searching for signs of planets -- including ones as small as or smaller than Earth.

Landsat
The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

LCROSS
The LCROSS mission's objective is to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's South Pole.

LRO: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The LRO mission objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

Mars Express
Mission to search for subsurface water from orbit.

Mars Exploration Rovers
Rovers Spirit and Opportunity explore the Martian landscape.

Mars Odyssey
This orbiter is mapping the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The mission will determine whether long-standing bodies of water ever existed on Mars.


Mercury, Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) Mission
MESSENGER will study Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun.

Mini-RF
The Mini-RF project will fly two radar instruments to the moon to map the lunar poles, search for water ice, and to demonstrate future NASA communication technologies.

New Horizons
New Horizons began its journey across the solar system to conduct flyby studies of Pluto and its moon.

NOAA Environmental Satellites
NOAA-N is the latest in a series of polar-orbiting satellites, that will collect information to improve weather prediction and climate research across the globe.

NOAA-N Prime
NOAA-N Prime will provide a polar-orbiting platform to support environmental monitoring instruments for imaging and measuring Earth's atmosphere and sea surface temperature.

Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2
The joint NASA-French satellite will help scientists better monitor and understand rises in global sea level, study the world's ocean circulation and its links to Earth's climate.

Pioneer
A journey through our solar system and beyond.

Pioneer Venus
The mission's objective was to investigate the Venus's solar wind, map the planet's surface and study the upper atmosphere.

Planck
Planck will provide a map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) field.

Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES)
POES is a cooperative effort between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United Kingdom and France.

QuikScat
The Quick Scatterometer, or QuikScat, replaces the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) instrument on Japan's Midori satellite.

Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI)
RHESSI's primary mission is to explore the basic physics of particle acceleration and explosive energy release in solar flares.

Rosetta Mission
Rosetta will orbit comet 67P and accompany it on its journey to the Sun.

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) Mission
RXTE is a satellite that observes the fast-moving, high-energy worlds of black holes, neutron stars, X-ray pulsars and bursts of X-rays that light up the sky and then disappear forever.

SERVIR
The SERVIR initiative integrates satellite observations, ground-based data and forecast models to monitor and forecast environmental changes.

SMART 1
SMART 1's two part mission will test new technologies and explore darker regions of the Moon's south pole for the first time.

SOFIA
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy--or SOFIA--is an airborne observatory that will complement the Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel and James Webb space telescopes, as well as major Earth-based telescopes.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
SOHO, designed to study the sun, from its deep core to its outer corona, is a cooperative program between ESA and NASA.

Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE)
A NASA-sponsored satellite mission that will provide state-of-the-art measurements of incoming x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and total solar radiation.

Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO)
STEREO continues its mission to capture 3D images of the sun.

Small Satellite Missions
Small satellite missions provide NASA with valuable opportunities to test emerging technologies and economical commercial off-the-shelf components, which may be useful in future space missions.

Space Shuttle
The space shuttle is the most complex machine ever built and its capacity is instrumental in building the International Space Station.

Spitzer Space Telescope
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, studying the universe in infared.

Stardust
Stardust returns samples from Comet Wild 2 to Earth.

Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS)
A mission that was designed to study the chemical composition of interstellar gas clouds.

Swift
The Swift mission seeks to tell us more about gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe.

TacSat-2
TacSat-2 features 11 onboard experiments, which will be conducted during the spacecraft's planned six to 12-month mission.

Terra
Terra is a multi-national, multi-disciplinary partnership between the U.S., Canada and Japan that is an important part of helping us better understand and protect our home planet.

THEMIS
The 2-year mission of Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms (THEMIS) is to track these violent, colorful eruptions near the North Pole.

Thermospere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Mission (TIMED)
The TIMED mission is studying the influences of the Sun and humans on the least explored region of Earth's atmosphere.

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)
This system of satellites and ground stations makes up a portion of the Space Network and provides mission services for near Earth satellites and orbiting vehicles.

Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) Mission
TRACE enables solar physicists to study the connections between fine-scale magnetic fields and the associated plasma structures on the Sun.

Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4)
The TC4 study will tackle challenging questions about Earth's ozone layer and climate using coordinated observations from satellites and high-flying NASA airplanes.

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall.

Voyager - The Interstellar Mission
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 journey to study the region in space where the Sun's influence ends and the dark recesses of interstellar space begin.

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
A mission to take the first full sky picture of the early Universe.

Wind Mission
A mission to investigate the solar wind and its impact on the near-Earth environment.

XMM-Newton
The Mirror Modules on this x-ray observatory allow XMM-Newton to detect millions of sources, far more than any previous X-ray mission.

cost? Let's see - about 0.7% of the federal budget. (Less than crop subsidies, more than the Bureau of Indian Affairs.)

benefits? Let's see - besides creating more information and knowledge about the earth and universe than the sum total of man's experience before it existed, I'd say the 30,000 or so patents, inventions and new technologies that NASA has produced.

Easy does it Kay. Prior to the 1960's the Roman Catholic Priests would call you blasphemous if you didn't acknowledge the Earth as the center of the universe. And while I would agree that the Earth is the center of their universe, I don't like the idea that their belief are based on 14th century ideas.

Technological improvements don't just come from nothing. There has to be a reason to do something different from what was done yesterday. Chances are that you benefit from all of those patents in ways that you least expect. You are not alone. Most of us don't know or appreciate the discoveries of others because they have saved us from the grief of doing without. It's hard to be humble.