Comment by ordu

> I did not say spending money on science is a waste of money.

This research is science, you've said it is waste of money,... well, I see now, that it is not the same as "science is waste of money", you argue that this particular research project is a waste of money?

But my objections still stand: the research allow us to get new data, and it is pretty interesting data. There is a lot of talk of going hypersonic for various reasons, and there are issues that no one knows how exactly things break up when burning at hypersonic speeds. So there is a gap in our knowledge and this "plasma tunnel" can help to fill it. Why do you think it is a waste of money?

> It is the same daft shit as trying to colonise Mars.

I don't see any similarities. To colonize Mars is a practical endeavor, and if we wanted to justify it we would refer to some practical benefits we could reap from colonizing. The research of how things burn in atmosphere is a theoretical research, the goal is to gain new knowledge. To argue that it is a waste of money, we need to show that there is no new knowledge to look for.