WEBVTT - The Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye Talks Nasa Funding

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, NASA is caught in the crosshairs of the Trump

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<v Speaker 2>Administration's proposed buzzer cuts. Scientists and space advocates scrambling to

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<v Speaker 2>save the organization from a potential forty seven percent slash

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<v Speaker 2>in funding, with eighty five percent of staff furlough amid

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<v Speaker 2>the government shutdown, all while the President considers reviving fintech

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<v Speaker 2>billionaire Jared Isaacman's nomination to lead NASA.

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<v Speaker 3>Joining me now is.

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<v Speaker 2>A familiar face fighting against this bill. Nye, the science guy.

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<v Speaker 2>He is the CEO at the Planetary Society.

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<v Speaker 3>Bill.

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<v Speaker 2>Fantastic to have you with us. Of course, we had

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<v Speaker 2>Monday's Day of Action. You played a strong part in

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<v Speaker 2>organizing that. Tell us about what the reception has been

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<v Speaker 2>like from the Trump administration from Congress in trying to

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<v Speaker 2>push back against some of these proposed.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, Congress has been great.

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<v Speaker 4>So both the Senate and House have pushed back, rejecting

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<v Speaker 4>virtually all of the proposed cuts. So twenty percent overalled

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<v Speaker 4>in NASA and forty almost half to NASA Science. And

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<v Speaker 4>if you cut NASA Science in half, you pretty much

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<v Speaker 4>end it. So what the expression is extinction? Level for science.

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<v Speaker 4>And so the reason this matters is every dollar you

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<v Speaker 4>spend with NASA, it goes into the economy about a

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<v Speaker 4>factor of three that it it in yours to a

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<v Speaker 4>benefit about three x of what you put in.

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<v Speaker 3>And then the other thing.

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<v Speaker 4>Everybody, you guys were talking about China and our relationship

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<v Speaker 4>to China. The Chinese China National Space Administration rather is

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<v Speaker 4>doing amazing things. They have some very smart people and

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<v Speaker 4>they're exploring space for the same reasons we are.

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<v Speaker 3>And I predict if nothing is done.

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<v Speaker 4>There will be at least two more what I like

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<v Speaker 4>to call spot Nick moments when the Western world wakes

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<v Speaker 4>up to, oh, my goodness, this remarkable capability from Asia.

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<v Speaker 4>And so they're gonna land guys or gals on the

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<v Speaker 4>Moon in twenty thirty four and a half years from now,

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<v Speaker 4>and they will almost certainly send spacecraft to Mars to

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<v Speaker 4>look for geologic samples rocks that may bear signs of

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<v Speaker 4>ancient life, and they will bring them back around twenty

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<v Speaker 4>thirty three. Meanwhile, with the cuts to NASA, none of

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<v Speaker 4>that would happen here in the States.

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<v Speaker 1>I am curious, and I like how you quantify the

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<v Speaker 1>idea of sort of what the economic impact of NASA is.

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<v Speaker 1>And I go back to your history, and particularly with

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<v Speaker 1>some of the things that you've worked on, you were instrumental.

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<v Speaker 1>I believe in working on some of the sundials that

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<v Speaker 1>went onto a couple.

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<v Speaker 3>Of instrumental See what he did there, instrumental. I got him.

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<v Speaker 3>It's an instrument But talk a little bit about it,

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<v Speaker 3>Bill and all.

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<v Speaker 1>Seriously, I mean, talk a little bit about why that's

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<v Speaker 1>important for the average person, because I think the average

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<v Speaker 1>person looks at this and just thinks, Okay, we're just

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<v Speaker 1>shooting stuff up into space just for you know, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>just for giggles.

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<v Speaker 4>Oh no, no, no, So everybody, we're having this conversation

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<v Speaker 4>right now.

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<v Speaker 3>Because of so called space assets, we.

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<v Speaker 4>Would not be able to predict weather, we would not

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<v Speaker 4>be able to have situational awareness for the military. We

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<v Speaker 4>would not have satellite internet service, We wouldn't have any

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<v Speaker 4>of these things without exploring space. Furthermore, everybody knows the

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<v Speaker 4>expressions big bang, everybody knows black hole. These are a

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<v Speaker 4>result of space exploration. And I predict it's not extraordinary.

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<v Speaker 4>If we were to find evidence of life on another world,

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<v Speaker 4>it would change this world. It would change the way

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<v Speaker 4>each of us feels about being a living thing here

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<v Speaker 4>in the cosmos, and so Furthermore, the cost of this

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<v Speaker 4>exploration is very, very small, and compared to everything else

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<v Speaker 4>the federal everything else in the federal budget the federal

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<v Speaker 4>government spends money on. And then remind you, guys, other countries,

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<v Speaker 4>other space programs are going full on organized efforts to

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<v Speaker 4>do almost mission for mission right what the United States

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<v Speaker 4>is planning to cut.

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<v Speaker 3>It's really a remarkable time.

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<v Speaker 4>But as I say, both the Senate and House have

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<v Speaker 4>rejected the cuts. What we want them to do is

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<v Speaker 4>that business of reconciliation and then get this, as they say,

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<v Speaker 4>over the finish line, this legislation.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, Bill, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the

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<v Speaker 2>idea that you could see private companies step in to

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<v Speaker 2>fill the void that could be left behind if NASA

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<v Speaker 2>is cut in half. I see you shaking your head.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm going to give them mike to you. Oh yeah, yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>It's two different things.

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<v Speaker 4>Sending rockets to low Earth orbit or even ferrying spacecraft

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<v Speaker 4>to geosynchronous orbits and so on is one thing. There

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<v Speaker 4>is no business case. Nobody's making money looking for evidence

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<v Speaker 4>of life on Mars. This is a replica of the

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<v Speaker 4>Mars sample tubes. These are rock samples that are on Mars.

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<v Speaker 4>Some of them are in the belly of the rover Perseverance.

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<v Speaker 4>Some of them are deliberately left on the surface where

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<v Speaker 4>we could pick them up in case something goes wrong.

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<v Speaker 4>There's no plan to bring those back. What's in those rocks,

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<v Speaker 4>these so called leopard spots, may be evidence of ancient

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<v Speaker 4>life which.

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<v Speaker 3>Would have started on Mars. That would be extraordinary.

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<v Speaker 4>All right, then, everybody, you may have heard the expression

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<v Speaker 4>dark energy, dark matter. Nobody is quite sure what causes

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<v Speaker 4>the galaxies to move the way they do.

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<v Speaker 3>There is nobody making money.

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<v Speaker 4>Nobody's cashing in on looking for where this dark matter,

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<v Speaker 4>this gravity comes from. There's no business case to look

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<v Speaker 4>for evidence of life on the ocean of Europa twice

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<v Speaker 4>as much seawater as Earth, and a moon of Jupiter.

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<v Speaker 3>Yet these discoveries can change the world. Do you think they'll?

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<v Speaker 1>Bill and I know that the US has kind of

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<v Speaker 1>been at the center of the space exploration for decades.

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<v Speaker 3>Now, is it possible US invented it?

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<v Speaker 1>We did, But is it possible now that we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to see another country, whether it be China, India or

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<v Speaker 1>someone else pick up that mantle and can that be

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<v Speaker 1>beneficial still for the US or not.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I don't think it's what people want. I don't

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<v Speaker 4>think most people in the United States, most US citizens,

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<v Speaker 4>would be joyful that another space organization was able to

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<v Speaker 4>put people on the Moon again without the US having

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<v Speaker 4>a presence, or to put people to send spacecraft or

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<v Speaker 4>other missions to these more distant destinations Jupiter, Mars, Europa, Titan,

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<v Speaker 4>Moon of Saturn. Also, you guys, the plan now is

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<v Speaker 4>just turn these spacecraft off.

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<v Speaker 3>Just turn them off. I mean, we have spent at least.

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<v Speaker 4>Twelve billion dollars on the spacecraft which you're flying right now,

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<v Speaker 4>and in the case of Mars, we've spent about twenty

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<v Speaker 4>three billion to find this place, to look for these

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<v Speaker 4>rocks to bring them back.

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<v Speaker 3>Talk about a waste of money. Yeah, just turning them

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<v Speaker 3>off extraordinary.

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<v Speaker 4>The idea is it's hard to imagine really at first,

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<v Speaker 4>and that's why the Senate and the House have rejected

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<v Speaker 4>these cuts and pushed back. As far as whose idea

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<v Speaker 4>it was in the first place to cut NASSA in half,

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<v Speaker 4>I'm not sure, because understand, the first Trump administration was

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<v Speaker 4>all in on space.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, they were.

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<v Speaker 4>They created a massa budget going full on. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 4>something's happened second time around.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, it'll be interesting to see. We have to get

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<v Speaker 1>you back on because there is a bill on now

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<v Speaker 1>trying to work its way through the committee that maybe

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<v Speaker 1>could reinstate SELMA of that funding out all of it.

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<v Speaker 3>Bill really appreciated.

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<v Speaker 1>Bill Nye, of course, is the CEO at the Planetary Society,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course many of us, of course very endearingly

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<v Speaker 1>know him from his previous show Bill Nye as the

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<v Speaker 1>science guy