>>>>>Money spent on space isn't put in a bag and launched on a rocket. Its spent on engineers and equipment. Mostly in the US. Its like a cash injection right where its needed, in employment and training.
>>>>
>>>>I didn't say it is or would be money wasted. Just that space dreams strike me as a luxury at the moment, not a necessity.
>>>
>>>Mike,
>>>
>>>I wouldn't want to explain that position to the 300+ workers who were just given pink slips in CT aerospace industries this week.
>>
>>Oh, please. Nearly 2 million Americans have lost their jobs this year. I don't see that those 300 are any more important than the others. This recession (if indeed that's all it is) has not left many sectors unscathed.
>
>Nonetheless my point is that telling anyone that we are cutting their jobs becasue the program those jobs are associated with is a "luxury" is a m istake in my mind.

Which was not my point at all, of course. Hard choices will have to be made in the government budget and space exploration should not be a priority IMO. Whatever budgets get cut, people are going to lose their jobs.