[speaker001:] okay Howard what do you think of our space budget and should we go ahead and and keep exploring or should we call a halt to it is it doing any good
[speaker002:] I think that the space program has done a lot of good for the country now I think what we made a major wrong turn we went into the uh to the current generation of space craft the reusable ones like they are now
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] because they have not proven as reliable as they should have and I think some of the earlier approaches were much more um much better in many ways however um you know we've gained an awful lot from the space program all the way from remote monitoring to Teflon to uh some new space age materials plastics and all that so I think it's been a good investment uh somebody was telling me the return was about twenty five or thirty dollars for every dollar spent
[speaker001:] oh really
[speaker002:] which is amazing for any governmental financed program I wish the post office just stop raising our rates um
[speaker001:] oh yes wish our post office could do that that's right I wish they'd just deliver stuff
[speaker002:] I think though that now that we're finally starting to get over the fears and the uh oh I don't know the guilt that we had out of uh Challenger I think maybe we can pick up and go on now but
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] I I don't know I don't think we're really have all of our act together yet as far as clear objectives
[speaker001:] I agree
[speaker002:] the space station is where we should go
[speaker001:] I agree seems like that we've kind of gotten side tracked with
[speaker002:] at this point
[speaker001:] putting all these different things up there to monitor and you know and I'm in favor of you know getting closer to seeing certain things but I'd like to see them also go you know go back up there see you know what they can do see about setting a a space station up I'm all in favor of the space program and I don't think we should stop and I don't think we should cut the money
[speaker002:] well where do you think we ought to go with it
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] you talking about uh uh a a fully manned space station that we'll keep up there
[speaker001:] yeah I would like I'd like to see that I'd like for us to really find out more about the actual universe and get up there and and see what's going on even if you know there's no life up there or anything you know but who knows and I would like to see them do something like that
[speaker002:] well you
[speaker001:] I I hate to see them just you know keep getting diverted off to spying on other nations and putting up defense things and I think they I think they lose sight of of part of what they're supposed to be doing
[speaker002:] well I think about half the missions now are are military related are they not
[speaker001:] yes yes
[speaker002:] and uh
[speaker001:] I believe they are
[speaker002:] it seems like it's that high a percentage
[speaker001:] you know let's go back to our original thing with you know the right experiments and our uh you know our actual exploring of space and and all that and you know with with Russia uh seemingly not going to be as as big a threat
[speaker002:] well they can't afford to
[speaker001:] huh-uh you know and have you gone out to uh Fort Worth to see the space Soviet space exhibit
[speaker002:] no we were talking about that this weekend we it's only going to be there a couple more weeks we need to go
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum we went uh we took our grandsons and went uh the weekend before last and it is marvelous I mean it's really neat how they they have done it they have done a beautiful job
[speaker002:] have they
[speaker001:] and they have a uh scaled down model showing how they you know fuel it or you know how they uh oh the fuel trucks and things run out there to it and how they uh all those things that are against the actual space mission uh space ship you know how they fall away from it and the loading and then and then it's actually you know the smoke comes out like it's taking off it is really interesting
[speaker002:] oh yes well maybe I need to run out there this weekend
[speaker001:] you really do it it's well worth the time and effort we went uh early on Sunday we got out there about uh ten ten thirty and beat
[speaker002:] now do you have to have tickets ahead excuse me
[speaker001:] no we bought tickets there and if you have children if you go to McDonald's you could they have coupons or did have now they may be through with them now that uh buy one adult and one child gets in free
[speaker002:] um I think both of both of my kids are too old for that
[speaker001:] oh okay oh okay you have teenagers or something yes well I had grandchildren so three of them so between their mother and their grandfather and I because their dad was at work and uh
[speaker002:] they're both uh yes yes but you
[speaker001:] but and the boys loved it you know they really did like it
[speaker002:] it's it's very impressive I'm sure
[speaker001:] uh-huh it is and I felt the uh six year old would you know that he'd be kind of bored but he wasn't even the three year old enjoyed it because they had one of those had one of those moon vehicles
[speaker002:] what um-hum
[speaker001:] and had it set up like it was on the moon and and showed it moving around and stuff so it was really neat
[speaker002:] well see now that's something else the uh Russians have had space stations manned stations space stations for years now you you know they had the MIRV
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] and see we've yet to keep anyone up over over a week or ten days
[speaker001:] right well in going through it I got the impression that actually they were farther ahead