New Wave Outpost Forum

I'm fascinated by the possibility of a manned mission to Mars and some of the innovative ideas of how it will come to pass. But I was really disappointed on a recent visit to NASA in Houston. Every presenter seemed to be fixated on their lack of budget and the impossibility of reaching Mars (or even the Moon) without more money.

Their solution appears to be to gouge people with young families who come to visit the space center:

Admission for 2 adults and 2 kids - $78
Parking - $5
4 Hotdogs and 4 drinks - $40
2 coffees - $6
A few trinket souvenirs - $25
Add ons for luner lander simulator - $16

That's $170 and we only stayed 4 hours! We'll get to Mars one expensive hotdog at a time!

This brings to mind an article I just read in Wired about Google sponsoring the next X-Prize: $10 million to the first group who can land a rover on the moon, have it drive or fly a predetermined distance, take panoramic photos of the view, send video to youtube, and photograph itself.

The great thing about this is that some group of science and business geeks will build a more cost-effective way to get there than a govt agency can. Will it cost more than $10 million to do it? Probably. But the initial money won't be the only reason they do it. There's also glory, innovation, and more money to be made on whatever they come up with.

And I agree, those prices at the space center are ridiculous.

Was this the regular tour or the "Level Nine Tour". From what I've heard, that is the one to take. See different tours here:


http://space.about.com/cs/nasa/p/jscvisit.htm

Those rates don't sound too bad, that you listed though. Comparatively speaking,a day at the Toronto Zoo, costs just as much.

No but I have been to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's a bit cheaper there.

[quote][i]Originally posted by geoffolehane[/i]
<br>No but I have been to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's a bit cheaper there.
[/quote]

A bit? By what, a few pennies? Still, after I went with the wife and kids, I actually went back the next day by myself so I could undisturbedly* geek out on my own for a few hours [}:)] [^]

* Hey KYYX, is this a word?

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