10th February 2003, 9:01 PM
The govrnment does have a huge influence on NASA wether or not you lot wanna belive it. One prime example: Challenger. The launch never should have taken place but NASA was under pressure from others (such as the president) to launch, so they did even though it was WAY too cold for safe launch. It also happened once in Russia. The government wanted a launch on their May Day holiday, so they sent a cosmonaught up in a craft that had a history of problems(3 unmaned missions, 3 disasters). Saying the government doesn't influence the space program is a pile of crap.
Engineering ruined my life.