It Better Be Worth It
The space shuttle landed safely early this morning. I am glad those folks are safely back on the ground. It has made me think a lot about the space program over these past few weeks. I have growing skepticism. Since the disaster in 2003, NASA has spent over $2 Billion researching a 1.5 lb piece of foam. This past mission cost us over $500 million. Think about that...we just shot $2.5 billion dollars into the air. That's disgusting.
I know there are many benefits to the space program. Microgravity creates an excellent environment for testing vaccines, medications, and other medical treatments, but that can't that be done on an unmanned rocket. Do we really need to go to space, the moon, Mars? Is this a competition with China and Russia? That's an expensive competition.
$2.5 billion could go a long way in Africa. Can you imagine if we scrapped NASA and used that money to end disease and poverty in sub-saharran Africa. When I watch the astronauts on TV doing all sorts of anti-gravity tricks and antics, it makes me angry. When I see the silly astronaut man showing off his new somersault trick, it makes me think about my friends in Kenya who are malnourished and dying. $2.5 Billion, it better be worth it.
posted by Brandon at 7:15 AM
1 Comments:
At the risk of sounding cheesy, the thing is, space is kind of the next frontier. Maybe it is simply political - a race with China and Russia, a deep-seated contest that's decades old - but maybe it's not. Perhaps it's about expanding horizons, pushing limits. I wonder if Henry Ford probably got the same flack from his own critics back in the day. While I'm sure that both sides of this argument have their own merits and pitfalls, I do have to admit that I don't have friends dying of disease and starvation, and I'm sure that, in your shoes, that $2.5b does seem a tragic waste. Just my 2 cents.
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