NASA Buys $19 Million Toilet

[Rosie the Riveter]

The Ben Folds song that says "Give Me My Money Back, Give Me My Money Back, you bitch" comes to mind.....



NASA Buys $19 Million Toilet

Friday, July 6, 2007 1:48 p.m. EDT

In space, a loo costs a lot.

NASA has agreed to pay $19 million for a Russian-built toilet system for the international space station. The figure may sound astronomical for a toilet in space, but NASA officials said it was cheaper than building their own.

"It's akin to building a municipal treatment center on Earth," NASA spokeswoman Lynnette Madison said Thursday, explaining the cost of the new toilet system.

Also, astronauts are familiar with how it works since it's similar to one already in use at the space station. The new system will be able to transfer urine to a device that can produce drinking water.

The new system is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. side of the space station in 2008. It will offer more privacy than the old toilet system, which will definitely be needed: The space station crew is expected to grow from three to six people by 2009.

The system will be installed on the American side, and the current toilet system on the Russian side will remain in place.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/7/6/135046.shtml?s=tn

[JonM]

It's the delivery charge that kills ya.

[Lloyd Danforth]

19 Million!  With 19 million you could buy a toilet for everyone in Mississippi...........who wanted one

[Russell Kanning]

wait until they start pretending to head to the moon again

are any of you still paying for this stuff?

[Rosie the Riveter]

are any of you still paying for this stuff?

yes.... 

[Lex]

At least the toilet is reusable. The government spends hundreds of millions of dollars on missles. A Tomahawk missle costs $750,000 so for $19 million you would only get 25 missles, that's chicken scratch in comparison to how many our military has launched.

[Puke]

Being made by the Russians I suspect it will fail.

[Lex]

FEMA beats NASA at wasting money any day!

Right now thousands and thousands of bags of ice are melting away outside a local warehouse. We're told FEMA ordered too much ice to be used after Hurricane Katrina. They never needed it and now says it has no choice but to get rid of it all.

FEMA says $23.7 million worth of ice is melting away nationwide. That translates to an excess of 85 million pounds.

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=865d5690-4fc6-4962-bbaa-a8fe440aed9c

[Russell Kanning]

they can't even give away ice?

[error]

they can't even give away ice?

Of course not. It's SPECIAL ice. It's surrounded by magic pieces of paper, on which are written strange words. The words say that the bureaucrats who manage the ice can only give it away in the summer, during a disaster, when the moon is full, on a Tuesday.

[Lex]

they can't even give away ice?

They will probably spend millions to ship all of it to Alaska for storage.

[Dreepa]

they can't even give away ice?

They will probably spend millions to ship all of it to Alaska for storage.

By truck via the 'Bridge to Nowhere'.