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I have been on launch failures where years of hard work, and the resulting science goes poof in an instance. It is quite devastating. :-(

However, I cannot even imagine the shock felt thru the scientific community with the cancellation of the SSC, especially after it was so far along towards completion.

I think the ripples from that decision are still being felt in this country today. Are Americans up to the task of truly "big science"? I wonder. Where would this country be if "big science" had been canceled in the past? Would Lewis and Clark been funded? Note; there were congressmen at the time that debated and questioned the funding issue of that exploration as well. Think of the Apollo legacy and the incredible boost to our engineering, miniaturization, and manufacturing capabilities. (I would lay money on the table that the return in taxes and GNP from all of the industries enabled and created thru the technology from the space program has exceeded the cost of same program)

To this day, I wonder what discoveries of the very nature of the universe we live would have been revealed by the SSC. Who knows what may have come from this. IMHO, this is national tragedy that most will never even be aware of or worse even give a damn.

I read many statements like; not with my taxes or it's unconstitutional, etc. Well they are FLAT WRONG! Big science and the resultant discoveries are in the national interest and national defense. Where would we be if Germany or Japan had completed their work on the Atom Bomb before we did back in 1945?

I also read all of the time here on FR, cancel NASA, or make it private. What company in these uncertain times would try to even fund projects of the magnitude of say a program like Cassini? Again, I would put money on the table and say NONE!

Just recently, I read a critique here on FR of just how much the Mars missions cost the taxpayers that are going to land next month. Well here is a contrast: If you only bought just ONE Starbuck latte for every family in America, you would spend more money than the price of these two Mars Landers, their launches, and the cost of operations.

Does anyone really expect the American public to give up his or her latte for ONLY ONE SINGLE day to fund a Mars mission? I sure don't.

Sorry for the rant, but I fear our country is slipping from the forefront if science and exploration and the benefits reaped from such explorations.

73 - "If High-Tc superconductors are appropriate for accelerator dipoles, why aren't they using them for the dipoles being built for the LHC accelerator at CERN, which is not even due to be operational until late in this decade?
You are speaking out of near-total ignorance."

You must not know much about physics, then, as you keep asking me (a self proclaimed non-physicist) questions you should be providing answers for.

Contribute, or quit wasting our band width - you are about as useless as Teats on a Boar Hog.

RadioAstronomer, - "PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN" - your friend, Physicist, doesn't seem to know much, as he keeps issuing challenges to non-physicists and provides no answers.

No wonder theoretical physics has trouble getting funding.

73 - "If High-Tc superconductors are appropriate for accelerator dipoles, why aren't they using them for the dipoles being built for the LHC accelerator at CERN, which is not even due to be operational until late in this decade?"

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Could it be, that the socialist governments of Europe are even more behind than our government?

Could it be that they are building a new 'shuttle', like we did, with 1950's technology in the 1970's and 1980's, making it 40 years behind the times by the time it got into orbit? Core Computer technology, which wasn't fixed until the 1990's.

Why did we stop funding the American SuperSonic Transport?

Could it be, that it was leading no where - like the Concorde, just to transport very rich people around and save a little of their time?