"After we stopped going to the Moon, it all ended. We stopped dreaming."
I recently read an article on io9.com that fairly well sums up how I feel about the current NASA situation. Here, let's see if I can find a link. Ahh, here we are:
http://io9.com/5829707/must-listen-neil-degrasse-tysons-inspirational-rant-on-nasa-cutbacks
First of all, love Neil deGrasse Tyson. We need more people like him. He mentions several things that really struck me. For one, that the $850 billion TARP bailout is actually greater than NASA's entire 50-year operating budget. The United States spent more money in a single sweep bailing out failing banks than it has in the last 50 years of space exploration.
I'm not saying we shouldn't have bailed out banks. I'm no economist, so I don't know all the ins and outs of this economic system. But I still find it staggering we can spend so much money bolstering greedy financial institutions instead of exploring what's around us.
In the video within the article, Bill Maher states that the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble's successor, will cost about $6.8 billion to launch. What I find interesting is the comparison he makes. It costs the same amount of money to launch that telescope as it does for US troops to remain in Afghanistan for one month. One single month.
We can't, say, take one month off from fighting each other to launch a telescope that will gives knowledge for years and years to come? We can't stop blowing each other to pieces long enough to launch a probe that can help us understand the origins of the universe?
Tyson is right, we've stopped dreaming. We no longer look up. We barely even look ahead anymore. What plans do governments make anymore? It seems as though anything started by a government is only meant to last until the next election.
Science fiction author Robert Heinlein once said, "The Earth is too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in." The truth of that statement is plain for anyone that takes the time to read it. There are far too many dangers to a planet to believe the human race could be safe staying on Earth. For example, the Earth is going to be hit, at some point, by a massive meteor. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when. Global warming, tectonic shifts, a depleted ozone layer, political turmoil, any number of things could end the life sustaining capabilities of this planet.
But if we managed to place just one colony on the Moon, there would be no single event that could annihilate the human race. Save, of course, the destruction of our Sun, but that's not supposed to happen for another 5 billion years or so. Earth simply doesn't have the natural resources to sustain us indefinitely.
And think of the product possibilities that could stem from further space exploration. If we beat bone loss due to zero gravity, we could fix bone loss disorders like osteoporosis here. If we develop better shielding, or even inoculations to combat radiation poisoning in space, we could shift those down to Earth, as well, and finally be able to utilize nuclear power efficiently, safely, and effectively.
Even now, NASA has spun off dozens of technologies from their efforts to explore space. Thanks to NASA, we've gotten air quality monitors, enriched baby food, scratch-resistant lenses, water purification systems, fire-resistant materials, and photovoltaic power systems. It's given us better breast cancer detection, digital imaging for medical scans, human tissue stimulators to manage chronic pain, and voice controlled wheelchairs. We've gotten ferrofluids, microlasers, and interactive computer simulators. Figuring out how to survive and explore space can help us figure out how to better manage life on Earth.
We've begun to forsake the advancements of tomorrow in order to make today more entertaining and profitable. There's money in the budget to support space exploration. Not just support, but to let space exploration thrive. In the United States alone, we could take one small fraction of the military budget and fund NASA for years.
There hasn't been a human on the Moon in my lifetime. No human has even left low Earth orbit in my lifetime. The last time any human left low Earth orbit was 1972, almost 40 years ago. I've never gotten to see a human walk across another cosmic body in real time. I can only look at archived footage that's older than I am right now. I find that sad. The US isn't even going to send any people into low Earth orbit for the foreseeable future.
We once dreamt of living on the Moon. Of sending humans to Mars. Of exploring our solar system and beyond. But we don't anymore. We've sacrificed our future in order to bolster things like fossil fuels, a technology we've been riding for over 100 years. We've begun to stagnate. And I, for one, am incredibly saddened by it. We'd rather wait for the new iPad than explore our place in the universe.
http://io9.com/5829707/must-listen-neil-degrasse-tysons-inspirational-rant-on-nasa-cutbacks
First of all, love Neil deGrasse Tyson. We need more people like him. He mentions several things that really struck me. For one, that the $850 billion TARP bailout is actually greater than NASA's entire 50-year operating budget. The United States spent more money in a single sweep bailing out failing banks than it has in the last 50 years of space exploration.
I'm not saying we shouldn't have bailed out banks. I'm no economist, so I don't know all the ins and outs of this economic system. But I still find it staggering we can spend so much money bolstering greedy financial institutions instead of exploring what's around us.
In the video within the article, Bill Maher states that the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble's successor, will cost about $6.8 billion to launch. What I find interesting is the comparison he makes. It costs the same amount of money to launch that telescope as it does for US troops to remain in Afghanistan for one month. One single month.
We can't, say, take one month off from fighting each other to launch a telescope that will gives knowledge for years and years to come? We can't stop blowing each other to pieces long enough to launch a probe that can help us understand the origins of the universe?
Tyson is right, we've stopped dreaming. We no longer look up. We barely even look ahead anymore. What plans do governments make anymore? It seems as though anything started by a government is only meant to last until the next election.
Science fiction author Robert Heinlein once said, "The Earth is too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in." The truth of that statement is plain for anyone that takes the time to read it. There are far too many dangers to a planet to believe the human race could be safe staying on Earth. For example, the Earth is going to be hit, at some point, by a massive meteor. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when. Global warming, tectonic shifts, a depleted ozone layer, political turmoil, any number of things could end the life sustaining capabilities of this planet.
But if we managed to place just one colony on the Moon, there would be no single event that could annihilate the human race. Save, of course, the destruction of our Sun, but that's not supposed to happen for another 5 billion years or so. Earth simply doesn't have the natural resources to sustain us indefinitely.
And think of the product possibilities that could stem from further space exploration. If we beat bone loss due to zero gravity, we could fix bone loss disorders like osteoporosis here. If we develop better shielding, or even inoculations to combat radiation poisoning in space, we could shift those down to Earth, as well, and finally be able to utilize nuclear power efficiently, safely, and effectively.
Even now, NASA has spun off dozens of technologies from their efforts to explore space. Thanks to NASA, we've gotten air quality monitors, enriched baby food, scratch-resistant lenses, water purification systems, fire-resistant materials, and photovoltaic power systems. It's given us better breast cancer detection, digital imaging for medical scans, human tissue stimulators to manage chronic pain, and voice controlled wheelchairs. We've gotten ferrofluids, microlasers, and interactive computer simulators. Figuring out how to survive and explore space can help us figure out how to better manage life on Earth.
We've begun to forsake the advancements of tomorrow in order to make today more entertaining and profitable. There's money in the budget to support space exploration. Not just support, but to let space exploration thrive. In the United States alone, we could take one small fraction of the military budget and fund NASA for years.
There hasn't been a human on the Moon in my lifetime. No human has even left low Earth orbit in my lifetime. The last time any human left low Earth orbit was 1972, almost 40 years ago. I've never gotten to see a human walk across another cosmic body in real time. I can only look at archived footage that's older than I am right now. I find that sad. The US isn't even going to send any people into low Earth orbit for the foreseeable future.
We once dreamt of living on the Moon. Of sending humans to Mars. Of exploring our solar system and beyond. But we don't anymore. We've sacrificed our future in order to bolster things like fossil fuels, a technology we've been riding for over 100 years. We've begun to stagnate. And I, for one, am incredibly saddened by it. We'd rather wait for the new iPad than explore our place in the universe.