The U.S. House of Representatives passed a crucial portion of President Bush’s legacy with the endorsement of the budget for NASA in a solid 383-15 vote. It’s nice to see one American dream kept alive.
The first NASA policy legislation to make it through the House in five years, this bill gets money for Bush’s vision of shooting the Moon and straight on til Mars. NASA has seen a lot of speed bumps on the road to space in recent years and some argue those bumps may always be dangerous and costly.
The shuttle program was started during President Richard Nixon’s administration in the early 70s. The prototype named the Enterprise rolled out as the model and by 1981 the Space Shuttle Columbia flew into history. The problem was that history isn’t always pleasant because in a few short years later, the Challenger exploded during lift off and back in 2003, the Columbia herself incinerated in during her descent back to earth. This doesn’t even consider the problems NASA experienced in the early days during Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.
Private companies may be the key as more and more companies look into developing much more inexpensive space travel because while NASA has certainly done brilliant work, sometimes the notion of a big government bureaucratic agency works against her. Even Richard Branson is planning on taking his Virgin Airlines to the next level with Virgin Galactic.
Critics of space exploration might argue society has better things to spend its money on, more issues that need dealing with right here but that is absolutely not the case. With so many problems in the world today, few things fuel the imagination and foster hope than exploration and space travel. In a nation where political infighting and religious strife seem to be everyday occurrences, mankind needs to have a dream that’s idealistic. This is where the space travel comes in.
Many writers have imagined the stars. Whether it’s Jules Verne and his trip to the moon or Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers racing through space to save the day, space inspires. With only about 12 hours left for Discovery’s launch, remember America and the world needs this exploration more than it needs just about anything because these missions represent much of what is good and strong and noble about humans.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
