NASA No More

Forty-two years, one month and six days ago, Neil Armstrong spoke his immortal words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong, on that day, extended the reach of the star-spangled banner to alien worlds, capturing the imagination not only of Americans, but also of human beings in general around the Earth. It seems that for a while, nine out of ten American kids aspired to be an astronaut, and for good reason. They are the modern explorers, charting the vast expanses of what has as of yet remained decidedly uncharted.

Well, these dreams were dashed away recently, as the impending budget crisis forced the reevaluation of the importance of NASA and, after the investigation took place, manned space flight effectively ended. It was a sad day for many.

A friend of mine--a Brit--once told me that, in stark contrast to every atrocity carried out by the United States' supposed benevolence, NASA was the single, unequivocally philanthropic project carried out by the United States for the benefit of mankind a whole. Although the stoppage of Communism is popular regarded as positive, not everybody would agree. However, most people would agree that to have factual knowledge is a good thing--and what factual knowledge NASA brought! The Hubble Space Telescope, allowing us to see worlds and galaxies afar, the International Space Station, allowing the aspirations of children everywhere to skyrocket (pun intended), Skylab, allowing experiments to be carried out that otherwise simply couldn't, even the capacity to feasibly put man-made satellites into orbit for our own exploitation! Truly, NASA has done a wonder for the world. And now its manned space program is gone. Is it better that way?

Here are some nice facts that you may be curious to know, when mulling over whether or not this spending cut was worth it.

1. We are in debt. We are deficit spending. Our economy is tanking. Seriously, every dollar we save is of utmost importance.
2. There are very few job openings, and unemployment is shooting through the roof. If we cut spending at NASA, we will throw away hundreds of employees working in engineering, maintenance, even janitorial work. It may not be the most prudent thing for the unemployment rate to leave even more people unemployed.
3. According to G. Scott Hubbard of Stanford University, every dollar put into space exploration pumps eight dollars into the U.S. economy. (This is due to inventions: NASA invented everything from Velcro to cordless power tools. For more, see http://wyrk.com/everyday-items-invented-by-nasa-dales-daily-data/)

Whether or not we can establish permanent bases off of Earth, seeing as it's far-fetched and idealistic, should not be considered. Also, the innate desire as a human race to explore is not something that should be considered; if we governed ourselves completely by innate tendencies, we would all be gallivanting serial rapists.

When it comes down to it, does the manned space program actually help the American people to the tune of $7 billion? My answer would be: no.

Space exploration is great. It's scholarly, it's interesting, it captures the interest of every young mind--but it's honestly not worth the immense cost. Establishing self-sustaining permanent human bases elsewhere is, at best, centuries off, regardless of how much money we pour into it. Our desire to explore can be swallowed temporarily while we wait out the recession's storm; honestly, when you're starving, it shouldn't be your top priority to climb to the top of Everest. Although the inventions derived from NASA may, in some cases be beneficial to the economy, it's very difficult to prove the numerical assertions made by Mr. Hubbard, and it's likely that NASA will continue to develop products, as this new spending cut did not dismantle the organization as a whole, rather pruned a small bit off. In the midst of the crisis, it's simply silly to cling to an old program sentimentally when slashes are being made across the board. Obviously, it's not the only program that needs to be cut and cuts are not the only solution, but it's certainly a step in the right direction, and manned space flight is seriously superfluous--nearly all other nations seem to be getting along just fine without it. Landing on the moon was probably one of the most patriotic things ever done, but that doesn't mean that it derived any direct benefit besides prestige, and when we're faltering so badly as we are now, it's better to sell the facade for the good of the building than to watch it crumble from behind while maintaining a translucent front of productivity to other nations that know better anyway.

So goodbye, manned space travel via NASA. We will miss you, but don't worry; we'll probably get along just fine.