Here on the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, it is appropriate that some people are debating the pros and cons of the space program.
My view is that space exploration does offer us great opportunities to expand our knowledge and to develope new technologies – on the other hand, its rather a burden which we seem to have to keep up on lest some nation over take us in space power. The “space race” of the 60’s was to get to the Moon before the Russians did; now its a race to get back to the Moon before the Chinese do. And then on to various near Earth asteroids and then Mars and beyond. I used to be a lot more enthused about this than I am now – I do wish we could just leave it to private enterprise to do whatever it wishes with space, if there’s any market for it at all. But such is not to be.
If we are to do it, then we should do it “all in”. Whatever the cost is, we should carefully plan it out so that NASA can know with precision not just what it will have in 2010, but in 2020 and 2050. Missions to the Moon, Mars and further out aren’t just planned on a note book with a pencil. They take a great deal of time and a massive amount of preparation. Give NASA a budget and then tell them to get us there, where ever “there” turns out to be.
What do you think?
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