ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 11/19/09

While I'm no fan of Senator William Proxmire's constant kvetching about NASA's budget, I do have to admit I find it disheartening that our nation's space agency can't seem to design a roll of toilet paper without it weighing 40,000 pounds and costing a cool billion. It's not so much that I object to the money - I really don't, space is an expensive business, after all, which is why only 13 countries have ever even attempted it - but how little ambition they seem to have with the money.