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'Defund NASA': Internet slams space agency's Artemis 2 mission as waste of taxpayers' money

10-day Artemis 2 mission is supposed to follow a hybrid free return trajectory, the Orion will eventually splash down in the Pacific Ocean

HOUSTON, TEXAS: NASA administrator and former astronaut Bill Nelson shared with the public, the space agency’s much-awaited announcement about its latest mission. Nelson started the reveal by saying, "we are going" as he listed out the names of the four stars of the event on Monday, April 3. Identifying them by their respective roles, he introduced them as mission commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA mission specialist Christina Koch.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has invited the crew to wish them well for their adventure. He said they will "inspire the next generation of explorers, and show every child ... that if they can dream it, they can be it," according to Independent. He invited the astronauts and their children to visit him at the White House.

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This is the first time both the capsule and booster will fly with astronauts aboard. This will also be the second launch of both vehicles together after the uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight in 2022. While the the 10-day Artemis 2 mission is supposed to follow a hybrid free return trajectory, the Orion will eventually splash down in the Pacific Ocean. They will then be met by US Navy ships and NASA teams, who will recover the crew and spacecraft. 

'NASA is a waste of money'

Slamming NASA, a social media user wrote, "NASA is a waste of money. Defund NASA. Help the poor." Another said, "What a waste of money! Fix earth first!" "What is the point, same with going to Mars? It’s not like we can live on either planet? Seems like a complete waste of money…," one user wrote, while another said, "(Wo)manned space activities are a terrible waste of resources and tax payers’ money."

'None of our tax money should go to NASA'

"What's the point of a fly by??? If you're spending the funds, you might as well do a landing. Otherwise, this is really a waste of time and money. You are either all in or not at all," one user said, while another wrote, "Let’s do something we did 60 years ago. Then claim it’s something special and not a giant waste of money to appear woke". "None of our tax money should go to NASA. Huge waste of money," said one user. "Can’t maintain the planet we’re on so I guess we should consume everything in the galaxy. Biggest waste of money in human history. However, we should probably call the moon ours before anyone else does. Because we’re going to mine it before we annihilate the earth," said another.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.