A $5 Billion Toy Rocket
So, the space shuttle Discovery launched successfully this morning. As much as I'm happy that it got off safely, I'm having a hard time understanding why a space program is a priority for this country considering all of the other problems we're currently facing. To me, a space program is a "want" and not a "need." For example, I may want to have a hi-def TV with digital cable, but I have a lot of other bills to pay, other needs to address first. I did a quick search in Wikipedia and came up with some astonishing figures on how much the space shuttle program has cost over the years. First of all, NASA has budgeted about $5 Billion for space shuttle operations for 2005. By the time the shuttle is retired in 2010, it will have cost $174 Billion!! Thinking of all the impoverished and starving people in this country (let alone the world), all of those struggling with health care expenses and prescription drug costs, those living in deplorable conditions the world over--how can we justify this extraordinary amount of money for a space program? $174 Billion sure could feed a lot of starving children. Is it just me who feels this way? Help me out here people...
posted by ze roberto @ 7/26/2005 08:20:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I could say things about "advancing the state of all mankind" or "blazing new paths into the great unknown"... but I'm not going to do that. I will say that it's basically impossible for us, as the world's superpower, to not pursue manned space exploration. There's too much momentum, and frankly, there's too much "riding" on the success, scope, and health of our space program, namely national pride. But more to the point, it spawned and supports an unbelievable private infrastructure of suppliers, engineers, consultants, vendors, and related companies and industries. They'll be no shaking the aeronautical lobby now. And it may not be an entirely bad thing: the space program has generated a number of remarkable inventions and "firsts" (I'm not just talking about freeze-dried ice cream or the Swedish tempurpedic mattress, either!) Things like heat-resistant tiles, propulsion systems, avionics and communications technology, sophisticated weather modeling and prediction, etc. That seems to me to be our space program's greatest achievement: it spurred progress.
OK, I understand the whole "spurring on technological achievement/progress" thing. But, I still can't shake the idea that the space program is more a feather in our cap, as opposed to a national imperative. As the "world's superpower," I think it would be more a point of national pride if we could say that our poverty & unemployment rate was 0%, that we had no starving/homeless children, that everyone was entitled to some measure of health care, that we could provide a free, post-secondary college/technical/vocational education to whomever wanted it, etc. If we could spend on our money on these issues first--and find an evironmentally sound, renewable source of energy while we're at it--then maybe we could move on to the space program. In fact, I bet if we put these same NASA scientists, engineers to work on solving our food/energy crisises, then that same progress/technological achievement would come out anyway.
I'm in complete agreement with Rob on this one. The biggest argument used to support space exploration is: "what if there had been no support for the exploration ambitions of Columbus or Lewis & Clark, etc." Here's my response to that: Apples and Oranges. If it's on this planet, more than likely it would be habitable and of real value to mankind. The same can't be said about space. We have yet to find a planet in our solar system that can independantly sustain human life. So what's the point? If the purpose is simply to advance modern technolgy and promote innovation, let such an endevour be pursued by the private sector, not the tax payer. After all, Nike didn't kick back to the public sector all of the profits they have made from the insulation technology "borrowed" from the space program. It's too expensive with little real return on investment. And that's not even touching on the way the space program has become a politically savvy "public distraction" to get Joe and Jane Everyman to say "wow," instead of focusing on the real problems plaguing our society. "Forget about the Cold War. Forget about the Iran/Contra Scandal. Forget about the war in Iraq. look at the bright light going up into the sky."
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