The NASA Shuttle Rainbow
By JIM CASEY
July 8, 2011 (July 13, 2005)
This column first appeared on July 13, 2005. Alot of folks questioned the
value of NASA from the beginning. I've always supported NASA and the Shuttle program, but by 2005 even I could
seen the magic was lost. Of course, today marks the lift-off of the last shuttle flight, and the end of an era. Time to look forward
but not so high in the sky. It was a good run.
Today's re-launch of the Space Shuttle is certainly a dramatic national event...if it had happened. But then ever builds the anticipation as we wait and hope for a soon rescheduled lift-off.
Sort of like those damn terrorists, it doesn't matter if our response makes sense or not, the important thing is to "DO SOMETHIN’ DAMMIT!"
In the case of the terrorists, we certainly did -- by God. We marched into a country where we have absolutely no evidence of any terrorist activity, no evidence of nuclear armament, and essentially no interest in what's going on there other than the oil we need to drive our cars -- and reeked bloody havoc on their government and people.
The Space Shuttle Program is not that bad in some ways, nobody gets killed....oops! then again they did, didn't they. But it is such a spectacular sight to see. We must vindicate ourselves of that national disaster...that national disgrace. And so the show goes on.
To the tune of billions and billions of dollars and potential loss of life, we continue our manned space program, and even have the audaciousness to plan for another trip to the moon, apparently to gather a few more bags lunar dust. That's a lot of money and blood going up in solid rocket booster smoke when we claim here at home to be concerned about the problems of this world. Just not the starving children in Africa, or the genocide in Rwanda, or even malnutrition in Appalachia -- not THOSE problems. Ah but yes...the problem's of the world...as long as they include a windfall of oil reserves that will continue to make the Bush aristocracy rich.
In reality, and admittedly sadly, manned space flight was essentially obsolete with the first trip to the moon. We proved we could do it, but in truth the use of space is primarily accomplished by the various satellites that are in orbit for telecommunications and spying and bouncing around the Internet, and that were or could have been placed in orbit by unmanned rockets.
Essentially every useful facet of "space exploration" can be and has been accomplished using un-manned missions...and in those missions nobody ever gets killed -- and they’re much, much less expensive.
It's nice to have a national toy for the richest nation to ever flourish on planet Earth, and I'm certain that we can continue to pursue various projects for the intellectual enrichment of man through "space exploration." But, I have to wonder if we can afford to perpetually have the national attention focused on the sky when there are indeed so many problems back here on earth.
Going back to the moon seems ludicrous to me when the US Constitution is being dissolved in a step by step process that will ultimately bring an end to the great nation that actually put man on the moon in the first place.
It's even more ironic that the great liberal democratic dynasty of the Kennedy family played such a huge part in creating the space program -- which now has become one of the great distractions allowing for individual and civil rights to crumble along with the Constitution.
Maybe it's time to let the NASA show cool down several notches, first by admitting the completely frivolous notion of going back to the moon...to collect a little more dust...isn't really such a good idea.
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