As the New Space Race Lifts Off, Who Will Be Left in the Dust?
Kennedy knew that it was only theoretically possible to reach the moon within a decade. However, what he knew for certain was that American citizens were disillusioning from the Vietnam War. In his inaugural address, President Kennedy even said, “Now the trumpet summons us again . . . a call to bear the burden of a long, twilight struggle.”
After the assassination of Kennedy, the Presidents that succeeded him inherited the gloom of his death and that of Martin Luther King Jr. They also confronted the posthumous challenge to land a man on the moon and the rising civil unrest that surrounded the Vietnam War. Apollo Mission after Apollo Mission, the public gained greater awareness of NASA and NASA gained what seemed to be unlimited funding from the government. NASA’s budget accelerated from $1.2 million to $4.3 million over the course of six years.
The Apollo Missions shifted the attention of American citizens away from the Vietnam War. After the missions served their intended purpose, NASA’s budget ceased operation at this full capacity. Unbeknown to many Americans is that the technology of the Apollo Mission superseded any of the space exploration most of us have witnessed in recent decades. The probes, robots, and toaster oven-sized packages that we drop into the atmospheres of other planets requires less energy, money, and jet propulsion than the mammoth Saturn rocket of Apollo 11.
History does not necessarily repeat itself, but American politicians do perform historiography. The feeble power of the US economy due to blatant overspending does not prevent the current President George W. Bush from trying to conduct a strategy similar to the Apollo Missions. Initially in a presidential address on Jan. 14, 2004, President Bush shared the following objectives for a Renewed Spirit of Discovery:
1. Retire the Space Shuttle and complete the International Space Station by 2010
2. Develop and test a new crew exploration vehicle by 2008
3. Return to the Moon by 2020
A Renewed Spirit for Discovery may be successful in attracting partisan support, but what about a Renewed Spirit for Space Money? None of these objectives can be achieved without proper funding. Although Congress approved a 2007 NASA budget for $16.8 billion, this chunk of change is worth as little as the American dollar in Euros. Nearly 1/5th of the budget is already dedicated to the development of a new space shuttle. At this rate, we may never even see as much as a single spike heel or bootprint on the Moon. Perhaps these downfalls explicate Bush’s immediate fantasy: Space Tourism.
Boys, Girls, Moms, and Dads, step right up and purchase an escape velocity experience. Sending civilians to outer space is comparable to the massive scope of the vision John F. Kennedy had of landing a man on the moon during his presidency. It seems far-fetched to some degree, yet New Mexico has cooperated with Virgin Galactic in the construction of a $225 million spaceport outside Upham. Virgin Galactic is a space tourism corporation owned by Richard Branson of the Virgin Group. This spaceport will act as the launch pad for private space companies such as Starchaser Industries and UP Aerospace.
While solar wind-bathing on the Moon is in the more distant future, suborbital flights that feature minutes of weightlessness will be all the rage in 2009. The New Space Race is a competition among private financiers and companies for prizes as large as $10 million to build civilian spacecraft. With a mere flick of the pen, President Bush signed a 120-page document from the space entrepreneurs called the Industry Consensus Standard Organization in 2004. This document prevents the FAA from regulating space safety standards for the next eight years until a fatal accident occurs. At a current minimum ticket price of $200,000, thousands of Americans on waitlists believe the risk is worth the experience.
Unfortunately, this translates into the harsh possibility that civilians will risk their lives in space before other types of social progress unfold. The President does not hesitate to ignore the moral issue of accidental death in space, but insists upon a Puritanical homeland. This reflects the conservative vein of America that is so commonplace today.
Politicians from each segment of the continuum including democrats and republicans utilize NASA, space travel and tourism as a neutral campaign issue. The prospect of space exploration facilitates propaganda and lifts civilian morale above ongoing issues like wars. Citizens and voters who are uncertain of their stance on “controversial” subjects such as same-sex civil unions can be persuaded by the space exploration springboard.
There will be political pollutants gravitating into the Cosmos with the commercialization of outer space, but there will also be benefits. For example, the spaceport in New Mexico will generate hundreds of jobs and at least $750 million within 10 years. As desert Southwest residents, we should be proud of the abundance of aerospace industries in our territory. On the other hand, when a President spreads a doctrine with cute phrases like “America’s history is built on a desire to open new frontiers and to seek new discoveries,” there must be some hidden agendas.
