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Helping You Get the Most Out of Your Misery
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HAIRSHIRT Helping You Get the Most Out of Your Misery |
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Tuesday, July 26, 2005Major Tom
I'm a little nervous this morning. The Space Shuttle is scheduled to launch in a little under two hours and I don't want to get my hopes up like I did earlier this month, only to drown in disappointment if they call it off.
I am a big believer in the exploration of space. I was raised on the shuttle program. I remember how excited my dad was when the first shuttle went up. I remember one of my elementary school teachers rolling a television into our classroom so we could watch a launch. I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the Challenger explosion (algebra class). I remember the first time a shuttle hooked up with Mir. I know a whole lot of people--my wife included--who just don't see the need or justification for our space program. Their argument (and I think it's a valid one) is that we have so many problems in our country that aren't getting the attention or the funding they need, why aren't we putting the money that currently goes to the space program toward solving some of them? I think people who feel this way tend to see supporters of the space program as little boys who haven't grown up. They feel that we think it's "neat" to see people floating in space and drinking globs of liquid that float in the air in front of them. And it is neat, dammit. But that's not why I support the shuttle program. Our universe is a vast place. We know so little about it. Think what there is to learn by exploring it. Think about the infinite variety of planets out there. Think about the fact that there are so many billions of stars and then think about the odds that some of them have life on them. How the hell can you not be curious about what's out there? How can you not want to know? Then there's the fact that our planet will have a finite life span. I'm not being a doomsayer here, I'm just saying that, eventually, our planet will stop being capable of supporting life. Whether this happens at a quicker pace because of all the damage we're doing to it with our fucked up environmental policies or whether it happens hundreds of thousands of years from now when our sun goes nova, it is inevitable that earth will not be here for us forever. When that day arrives, if we want humankind to go on, we're going to need a way to get the fuck out of here. And yes, that day is so far away that none of us, nor our great-great-great-grandchildren will be here to see it. So I understand people who ask why the hell we need to worry about it now. But we have to start some time. The space program as it exists right now is still in the tiny, recently-fertilized egg stage. We can't even send anyone to another planet in our solar system at this point. But we need to keep working on it. That's why I'm such a strong supporter of President Bush and his "let's go to Mars" program. No, I'm just kidding. He's full of shit on every level. Now, I agree that maybe the way we're going about space exploration right now isn't the most effective. If there was a good way to privatize space exploration and keep NASA as a (powerful) regulatory agency, maybe that would be better. Then, public money could go to taking care of the public and some of these naysayers would shut up their whining. There's something of a trend toward this right now, with the interest there was in the X Prize. However we go about it, though, I truly believe we need to continue to explore the universe around us. If only so we can find a planet that Scientologists can call their very own. EDIT: I just watched the launch and the first ten minutes or so of flight. I actually cried. Which may mean that I've got some sort of bizarre male PMS or may mean that I'm a huge fucking geek. Or both. Go Discovery!
Comments:
I've worked for and with NASA for five years now, and even I can see the need for the money to be used elsewhere, especially having seen some of the "hangers-on" that are draining NASA money but not contributing to the cause.
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I agree with you that privitization might help both goals be met. I really believe in the space program, as heartily as I believe that Bush is a shitfaced cockmaster. If a couple of European monarchs had cut their exploration budgets 500 years ago...well you get the idea. I watched the launch this morning, too. And though I didn't cry, because I'm a man's man and not a sissy, I did get chills a couple times. I'm totally giving you my NASA Return to Flight pin when I see you in August. --K
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 : 11:51 PM
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