Boldy Going…Nowhere?
For a long time, I’ve had something of a love/hate relationship with the Space Shuttle program. Over the years, I’ve cranked out my share of letters to the editor defending it from those would-be budget cutters who think our tax dollars would be better spent on something with more tangible benefits (like how to quell the pungent pigs in Iowa). However, after the loss of Columbia back in 2003, I began to wonder if the Shuttle itself was just too damned complex to operate as a reliable space transportation system. Mind you, I never lost my enthusiasm for manned space flight–I just thought that the time had well passed to move on to something new. That’s why I was so jazzed about the Constellation Program, and felt my heart skip a beat when the last administration announced that NASA should focus its efforts toward getting us back to the moon, and eventually Mars. Finally! After forty long years, once again we were going to venture out past Earth orbit!
Not so fast.
To put an even bigger cap on the bummer that has been the last year, we’re now faced with the news that Constellation is all but dead. Sorry folks, no more manned space flight for you–just can’t afford it, what with all the bailouts and budget deficits we’ve been running. Even worse, with the Shuttle program retiring, we will have no capability of launching Americans into orbit after 2010. How pathetic is that? The country that sent men to the moon will now have to hitch a ride with the Russians if we want to visit the International Space Station.
Now I realize that times are tough, and that even tougher decisions need to be made. But putting a singular source of American pride and ingenuity on the chopping block? That ain’t like canceling a bridge to nowhere. Set aside the spinoffs from Apollo that laid the foundation for today’s technology; the cold truth is that a nation that doesn’t set new frontiers for itself will instead chart a course for stagnation and decay. America’s manned spaceflight program has always represented the best of what humanity can be: bold, adventurous, and peaceful in pursuit of a noble goal. Now, with one swift stroke of a pen, all of that is on hold–all so NASA can focus on “climate science” and other such uninspiring tasks.
To say such a decision is shortsighted is an understatement worthy of an English playwright. I have had many reasons to fear for the future of this nation, and now I have another.
Posted on February 12, 2010
4 comments | Permalink
February 18th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Don’t give up hope!
http://www.virgingalactic.com/
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
That is true–and there’s something to be said for private industry taking the reins. I can’t think of many things that the private sector does that government can do better; but given the expense of interplanetary exploration and the lack of near-term payoffs, it’s doubtful that Sir Richard and his band of merry space pirates will go much farther than Earth orbit.
Call me nostalic, but I sure miss the days of Gemini ad Apollo, when we actually had a vision of a future in space–and I was in diapers when Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon! Or maybe I’d just like the feds to spend some of my tax dollars on something other than “stimulus.” I find it all rather unstimulating.
February 26th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Well, I’m 100% with you. I think the cancellation of the Constellation program was the last straw for me. After cultivating a love of science into many a child by writing dozens of educational courses and books, sending my own son to Space Camp, and generally making sure I did my part in the war on ignorance by pushing math and science to thousands of homeschool kids all over the world, I am – to be honest – pissed off.
If you take away the dream, what is left? If you leave the next generation flat broke and devoid of both lofty goals and high expectations – what kind of future will they have?
Can someone with true vision please stand up?
February 26th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Amen to that. Though it seems like ancient history now, back in 1957 when Sputnik was launched, the competition between the Russians and the United States sparked a real science craze. But it was a lot more than keeping up with our arch rival: something about the exploration of space–a real, tangible, wondrous thing–gave people a direction for their educational passions. A kid could grow up thinking that he or she could be exploring the stars someday. How inspiring is that?
Letting our manned space program go belly up is nothing short of killing a dream. It saddens be beyond belief. What shortsightedness.