I don't think you guys get it. The astronauts are sad because the entire thinking of the American elite is "do with less" - at least for the regular people. When I was younger I used to think: how did those guys build the Hoover dam back 1930's, how did they go to the moon in 1960's, how did they go to the bottom of the ocean (Mariana's Trench) in the 1960's, how did we build the tallest skyscrapers. Now we do none of that. There's no "can-do" attitude. There's only what can "I get for free from the government".

Oh knock it off countsodoku. I have many friends that served in the military and they love their personal guns and they don't shoot anybody. It's called a metaphor. Just words. And I'm a conservative that programs computers for a living. It's quite true that liberals are pretty poor on the second amendment. And it's people like you that help to inflame the public discussion. Where do liberals get off demonizing everybody that disagrees with them? It's obvious that the country is about half/half liberals vs conservative. And yet too many liberals truly, truly believe that conservatives don't have legitimate viewpoints. It's just unacceptable

Silly liberal slashdotters. Your flawed argument is that is a good thing to rachet up CAFE standards (Big Gov controls) because it forces us to become more efficient. Indeed it's a good thing that the price of oil is going up - for the same reason. But this hurts the automotive, airline, and trucking industries very much. Oh you don't care. Well maybe we should triple the price of computers - to discourage their use. And triple the price of your internet connection (all by gov fiat). By your logic this would be great. Discourage use, less footprint, save energy.