I wonder why it is so bewildering for any government to just give more money to NASA and the likes. The arguments for an increase in spending are huge, both from an economical standpoint, and of course as a good way to increase the scientific knowledge of the whole human population. Should I perhaps be more cynical and just assume leaders are all corrupt, powerhungry, and dont really care for the common good? I can accept some of these exist, however regrettable. Keeping that in mind, there should atleast be some leaders with a good interest in science. Where the heck are they?

what really interests me is the fact that this satellite in such a low orbit that it actually has wings and an aerodynamic body to cope with the small amounts of air on that height. Those wings combined with the ion motor's onboard make it almost a plane/ satellite hybrid.

that has to be right up there with back to the future. I mean, it has a frickin' gigavolt-multimegampere proton beam