A rocket hurtles off into space, launching three men toward the International Space Station (ISS).
As always, there is the danger that goes along with any space flight. But given the string of tragic mistakes that befell the Russian Space Agency last year, one might wonder why the U.S. is sending astronauts into space in Soyuz capsules.
That”s right. The U.S. Space Program is currently dependent on the Russians to bring astronauts to and from the ISS, following the retirement of the last two Space Shuttles, Atlantis and Endeavor. The Russian program suffered five botched launches last year, the 50th year since Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the planet.
The end of the Space Shuttle program seemingly brings to an end the U.S.”s dominant reign in space flight, after getting beaten to the punch early by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. But all that changed when President Kennedy spoke those famous words: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”
With that simple yet daunting challenge almost 51 years ago now, perhaps motivated by the president”s untimely death, NASA reversed its late start and achieved that unbelievable goal within nine years.
Following Apollo 11”s triumphant mission, five additional missions, as well as the near tragic Apollo 13 flight, put American men on the Moon. It is an achievement yet to be replicated.
NASA followed up the successful Apollo program with Skylab, a precursor to the ISS and earlier Soviet (later Russian) Mir space station. Various scientific experiments were performed in three manned missions to Skylab, a manner continued with the Shuttle program and later in the ISS.
The first Shuttle, Columbia was launched on its maiden voyage on April 12, 1981 (more than two years before I was born). The launch date had been pushed back nearly two years. I”m sure it made for an exciting return to space though.
It seems almost unthinkable that the Shuttle program would last more than 30 years and five presidencies. Two horrific tragedies came along the way in Challenger and Columbia. But the program pressed on until it was ultimately retired.
And now, nothing.
NASA”s budget has been reduced countless times in the last few decades, preventing the agency from financing a new manned space vehicle in a timely manner. In its 1960s glory days, NASA”s budget made up nearly 5 percent of the federal budget. These days, it hovers around 0.5 percent.
NASA”s budget was $15.8 billion in 2007, 0.58 percent of the federal budget. In 1966, the year NASA”s budget peaked percentage-wise, its budget was $32.1 billion in 2007 dollars, which represented 4.41 percent of the federal budget at the time.
This country has always touted itself as an innovative leader that inspires the rest of the world. How can we inspire the world when we can”t even ship astronauts off this world currently using American equipment?
We need to find ways to get more money into NASA”s budget so our country can continue its legacy as manned spaceflight pioneers.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, I hope our leaders will find ways to shift defense funds into the space agency”s budget so that we can use technology to inspire rather than kill.
It”s 2012. Aren”t we supposed to have terraformed Mars by now and be able to take vacations on the Moon?
While that may be fantasy, I want to see this country push to send a manned flight to Mars. That is truly the next frontier and I hope I live to see an American set foot on that desert planet.
The longer we allow the Russians, Japanese and European space agencies to fly U.S. astronauts to the ISS, the less chance we have of seeing that Martian dream become reality.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Follow on Twitter: @KevinNHume.
