Posted by
colonist1 - Sunday, February 21st, 2010
As the Augustine Report begins to transform NASA into an even less effective force for human exploration into space, all of us still need to have faith and strength that we can get past this. The Obama Administration may not be around in a few years and the direction of NASA may yet change and be saved. By not earmarking any budget for the Constellation Project, its pretty much has put a tulip on the initiative for the short term. Hearing on the news today that a potential 10,000 jobs will be lost because of this, saddens my heart even more. What’s happen to us? What’s happened to the dream of the “Space Age”? The Space Age meant bringing mankind into space with growth and change, not shuttle bouncing up and down like a trampoline 300 miles above us using every excuse we can think of saying we’re not ready yet. Focus only on more Robotic missions and committing NASA mostly to focus on just improving our current rocket technology to make it faster or more green for the next 10 to 20 years is like never using your car until you can zoop it up. We still aren’t leaving the garage though. The car, the knowledge of what we have now, is just sitting there gathering dust.
Yes, I’ve heard the many proponents that continuously will justify NASA is not ready for human spaceflight because of safety, and radiation dangers, and gravity, and they’re right on many levels but at the same time, that did not stop the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs and what they achieved. We do know what it takes. We do have the technology. We even have a means to “live off the land” using the innovative techniques scientists have already come up with.
Instead, we’ve taken one of the most powerful space initiative forces on the planet, and weakened it even more with political ambitions and agendas in mind. Not the people’s dream. The dream to live, grow, and thrive as a species and to also protect us in case a future planetary catastrophe destroys us all.
We have an opportunity to put the adventure back into the human experience on a planetary, national level. Look at the hundreds of science documentaries, science fiction space-related movies and shows that demonstrates a fraction of our hopes and dreams, perhaps even fooling ourselves in thinking we have already arrived into Space.
If we do not change our vision into reality, soon, we or our children or our children’s children will look up one day and see our world coming to a frightful end. There’s probably a good chance we won’t even see it coming. Not only will all of this become meaningless, but all the history that makes us human, Einstein, Elvis, Newton, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Martin Luther King, all of it will be in vain.
IT IS NOT BEYOND US! ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS “WANT IT”. THAT’S ALL! HISTORY HAS TAUGHT US THIS!
The “will” of the people is a power which demonstrated itself over 40 years ago within a short decade’s time that proved there is “nothing, absolutely nothing” that we cannot accomplish when we put our heart and soul, and pride into it as a people.
The 2011 budget does focus on extending the life of the International Space Station and overhauling the Kennedy Space Center into an even better operations, and historical museum of past glories of human space flight from decades ago. These are important things and the men and women who have brought us where we are at today have given us a wonderful gift of knowledge through research and creating a space station infrastructure as a stepping stone to the stars. However, these monumental achievements NASA and other agencies have accomplished is but the first step towards the stairway we were originally heading towards. Bringing mankind to the stars, forever!
Its not just the Obama Administration or this particular administration either. It seems every 5-10 years goes by, we find a ways to re-direct NASA into a direction that seems more and more unreachable. However, just after the Columbia accident the Bush and NASA administrations announced a tangible timeline and schedule towards manned space flight and human exploration from Earth, to the Moon, (which was to be our Human Space Training Camp & Communications hub for the Galaxy), and then onto Mars, there was a ray of hope in my heart, in all our hearts, that we were returning back to the vision, the dream, the hope that all astronauts, space scientists and space enthusiasts have long hoped for. Yes, it was far out, but reachable to see in our hearts, an almost touchable experience in our life time. Going back to the moon by 2020 and then on towards Mars! Let all of us remind the powers that be, the human dream is important to us. Allocating strong resources to it, and not scraps or excuses is what we all want. NASA is a very important part of all that if we can just get past the political red tape that has cost us so much time, throughout the years, time and time again.
We can do this! We must do this!
The alternative is too dark to even consider.
-Keither
.
