House backs Bush space plans
Good.
One of the least-appreciated chapters of late Twentieth Century history was the huge boost the American economy received from the program to put a man on the moon.
Instead of going on to Mars, we chose to focus on near-earth stuff like the shuttle and eventually Space Station Alpha. Good programs, those- but not the economic gold mine Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo turned out to be.
With the end of the Cold War, many of the same segments of the economy which had contributed to the moon project suffered further devastation when strategic arms spending was cut. The Bush plan can reinvigorate them. It can also return us to the days when unlooked-for spinoffs from ground-breaking space research not only enriched our lives through the products they created, but created whole new industries to put people to work, led to breakthroughs in medical science- and, let us not forget, yielded scientific knowledge of a kind which can often only be obtained by manned missions.
It is not beside the point that the Moon is rich in helium-3, a commodity one square foot of which could meet the energy requirements of the entire United States for a year. But there is another compelling reason why I am glad to see the President's plan go forward.
I remember Sputnik I. I remember Yuri Gagarin. I remember what it was like to stand by and watch someone else demonstrate their technological superiority over the United States, and their greater dynamism and purpose as a society.
I remember what it was like to feel like an also-ran.
To paraphrase Lyndon Johnson ever so slightly, I, for one, do not relish the thought of going to sleep at night by the light of a Red Chinese moon!
One of the least-appreciated chapters of late Twentieth Century history was the huge boost the American economy received from the program to put a man on the moon.
Instead of going on to Mars, we chose to focus on near-earth stuff like the shuttle and eventually Space Station Alpha. Good programs, those- but not the economic gold mine Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo turned out to be.
With the end of the Cold War, many of the same segments of the economy which had contributed to the moon project suffered further devastation when strategic arms spending was cut. The Bush plan can reinvigorate them. It can also return us to the days when unlooked-for spinoffs from ground-breaking space research not only enriched our lives through the products they created, but created whole new industries to put people to work, led to breakthroughs in medical science- and, let us not forget, yielded scientific knowledge of a kind which can often only be obtained by manned missions.
It is not beside the point that the Moon is rich in helium-3, a commodity one square foot of which could meet the energy requirements of the entire United States for a year. But there is another compelling reason why I am glad to see the President's plan go forward.
I remember Sputnik I. I remember Yuri Gagarin. I remember what it was like to stand by and watch someone else demonstrate their technological superiority over the United States, and their greater dynamism and purpose as a society.
I remember what it was like to feel like an also-ran.
To paraphrase Lyndon Johnson ever so slightly, I, for one, do not relish the thought of going to sleep at night by the light of a Red Chinese moon!
Comments