Admittedly, I’m a bit of a space junkie. Most people of my age range are fond of the exploration of the “last frontier”. I vividly remember watching the first moon landing as a girl. I was about my son’s age and that moment is eternally embedded in my brain.
Over the years, space policy has fascinated me. Until a couple of years ago, I taught a course at UH entitled “Science and Technology Public Policy”. NASA and the public policy of taking risks was one of the main tenets of the course. This allowed me to legitimize my fascination and share my love for the space program with students for many years. Unfortunately, much like the space program, the class became a victim of budget cuts.
NASA and space exploration are truly one of the best examinations of how government must sometimes take risks in order to advance research and improve lives.
As vividly as I remember the moon landing, I also remember a couple of shuttle explosions. These events terrified the public and would always put the space program at risk. Truth be known, no astronaut would want their death to cause America to end space exploration. We would plough through Congressional hearings and public outrage and then get the program back on track.
Space funding and research have contributed so much to our society that we don’t even value. From cordless tools to freeze-dried foods to advances in medicine, the actions of our space program have made all lives better. Click here to read more about NASA’s contributions.
This week has actually been tough on me. It’s not that I’m married to the shuttle program, per se. In fact, I thought it had outlived its purpose. It is that there is nothing on the horizon. When will we go back into space? How will scientific advances continue? Will we fall behind other countries? We have absolutely dominated space research and advances. Without some change, we will default our leadership to other parts of the world.
Not to worry though, there are only a few thousand rocket scientists out of work. I hope they are up for adventure because I’m sure they will be learning about global opportunities soon enough.
Alas, dear shuttle, you have brought great joy to our lives and gut-wrenching sadness. Most of all, you have contributed to a functioning space station and helped advance science beyond our imaginations. Thank you.
And thank you to all the dedicated NASA employees. May you find a way to continue to apply your brilliance.
That class, which I took in Fall semester of 2007, really put in perspective the demand that citizens put on their government for perfection. Generally, in other areas of government this demand is based on taxpayer dollars. However, for space, there was also pride and the emotion of the cold war mixed into it, which raised the demands of the space program to an unrealistic and unsustainable level. However, the space program was also an indication of what the United States is capable of when all of our citizens in the different facets of our society get on board to achieving one goal. So for me, the end of the human space flight program is concerns me on multiple levels.
First, if the United States cannot get on the same page on investing our money into something that has had great returns, then what can we get on the same page on. Second, while I understand that we are in a debt crisis, that does not mean we should be cutting programs that work and bring an economic and social benefit to society. Just imagine if we put a big portion of that fiscal stimulus money towards the space program into a mission to the moon, or mars, or anything large enough to require a lot of building. Just imagine all the work and jobs that we would need to go into planning the mission, designing the equipment, building the equipment etc. And from a national political perspective, not all of that work has to be done in Texas. It could have been done all over the country. Then think about all the technological innovation that would have been discovered that the private sector could use to start new businesses and stimulate job growth. I am not an expert on NASA and its benefits, economic or inherent, to society, but it seems like a dumb thing to pull while we are in a recession, especially because the private sector is ill-equipped to pick up where NASA left off.
Thanks Jack! I agree so much. It just proves how divided the country has become when we cannot unite behind something as beloved as the space program. Thanks for your comments.