"Peter Duniho" wrote in
:

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
So your thesis is, that as long as the per capita amount of tax money
misappropriated by NASA is small, that sort of malfeasance is
acceptable?

I doubt that's his thesis. My guess is that, as with mine, the question
is how much YOU are paying. YOU are the one complaining. Many
taxpayers are satisfied with how their money is being spent.

BINGO!!!


I don't know why "Skywise" thinks the ashes are less than a gram (about
a teaspoon, I'd guess?), but I agree they are not heavy. My
grandfather's ashes didn't weigh even a kilogram, if I recall correctly.
They definitely weren't as heavy as two kilograms. Using Skywise's
numbers, that puts the cost at still under a penny (just as he guessed).
Snipola

I had done further research as I had no idea how much is left after
cremation. According the wikipedia article on the subject, about 5%
of the orignal mass is left, so given a 200lb person that worked out
to a few kilo's max.

I conjectured that less than a gram is on board because all the
confirming statements about the presence of said ashes state "a
portion of" his ashes are on board. That clearly indicates that not
all of his ashes are flying, but probably just a representative
small sample for the purpose of honoring the man who discovered
Pluto. There's no need to carry much. It's a symbol of honor.

So, shall we move on to the issue of the digital disc carried on
the Cassini spacecraft with the digitized signatures of hundreds
of thousands of people? (including myself) IIRC there's a similar
disc on New Horizons as well.

Yep, according to: http://www.space.com/astronotes/astronotes.html

...the New Horizons spacecraft bound for Pluto is toting a
number of items, including a U.S. flag, as well as a compact
disc containing more than 430,000 names.

And

...a piece of SpaceShipOne

No, Larry, I think you're missing the point of all these things
that are flown on these craft. These symbols are useful because
it gives the average joe blow (or jane) something to connect with.
99% of people don't understand the significance of exploring these
worlds and spending all this money. By giving people some way of
connecting themselves personally to these missions, they feel more
involved. Perhaps it's nothing more than PR BS, but if it means
getting more people aware of the importance of doing this kind of
science, I'm all for it.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?