zitothebrave
Connoisseur of Minors
First I call BS, they're talking about moving a nuclear reactor to the moon. Which alone is at least 1 of those billions. Every rocket launch is 1-4 billion. They're planning on doing 2 a year through I assume completion that should be another in just rockets at least 10 billion. Minimum. Then there's other R&D associated typically.
I believe more likely if you read to the bottom of the official article, it's not rolling the 100 billion already spent on R&D and probably building rockets and reactors into that 20B.
NASA unveils ambitious $20 billion plan to build moon base near lunar south pole
In an on-going overhaul of NASA's Artemis program, agency officials say it will take seven years to build a sophisticated base on the moon.
www.cbsnews.com
"Expect uncomfortable action if that is what it takes, because the public has invested over $100 billion and has been very patient with respect to America's return to the moon. Expectations are rightfully very high."
100-120 billion for a research lab on the moon vs. the same for a high speed rail that connects millions of people that requires buying land and right of ways. I know which one I'd rather fund, but I'm sure you'll be back with another snarky comment.
The fact the US hasn't developed high speed rail is sad. There should be high speed rail connecting most of our major metro areas. But we're too horny for planes. It should be easy to go to Boston, get on a train to New York, connect to a spur that gets you to Chicago, etc. If you had a HSR that did that it would go far. ANd you knwo the demand is there because Amtrak is spending the money to connect DC and Boston.
EVen then that train from Boston to Philly takes 5 hours, to go about 270 miles as a crow flies. In Japan you can go from Tokyo to Osaka on the bullet train in about 2 hours 14 minutes to go about 250 miles as a crow flies. ANd it's largely because of stops because Amtrak is more about max money than max efficiency. There's 8 stops between Boston and Philly including a second stop in boston, Route 128 in a boston suburb, Providence, Stamford, New Haven, NYC, Newark Penn, and NJ Metropark. Before settlign in philly. Vs. Japan they have 1 stop in Shin Yokohama, 1 stop in Nagoya, and 1 stop in Kyoto. Because they hub and spoke, which makes the most sense for public transportation. Get to the major city, then get on a different local train to go to the burbs, smaller cities, etc. Boston should service Providence, Portland, Portsmouth, etc. NYC should hub hub Stamford, Newark etc. Philly should hub WIlmington, Camden, etc. Baltimore should hub it's immediate area, DC should hub it's immediate area etc. High speed rail should only be connecting like 500Ks plus. That's the issue. Too many people want only what's best for them instead of thinking what's best for everyone.
