[Anthony Towne]

Erin has some very wise words of wisdom. There are many people here at Hamilton that are/were very integral to space programs. Safety is their number one concern. NASA isn't concerned about losing money, though. They are concerned much more about losing lives. All tragedies in space are considered tragedies because people lost their lives. The last thing NASA has to worry about is money.

I was lucky enough to spend 2 months working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland back in 2001 (I was there for 9/11). I was donig a project with 2 other classmates that involved rigorous study of the ISS. At that time, Russia was pulling out funding. I'm not so sure you can call technology out in space that obsolete. The fastest processors in space are 486 chips. There are no pentium processors in space. They are considered too unstable, not to mention more expensize, and there's nothing you can't do with a whole bunch of 486 processors. Also, the ISS is designed to last many many years. It is modular and anyhint that would go out in space after it is completed would just be attached to it. NASA wouldn't waste trillions of dollars just to replace something when they can add to it.

The ISS has changed a lot from when the idea was first conceived. All countries involved have gone through budget crises in one way or another. The ISS will look nothing like it was supposed to.

I think I have rambled on quite long enough.