The Right Stuff, the Wrong Budget

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with space, NASA, the Space Shuttle and pretty much science in general. I had an eight foot tall poster of the Space Shuttle on my bedroom wall at my parent's house (still do, in fact). I still love it, which is why it pains me to read about manned space flight coming to an end – at least for the United States. That part doesn’t pain me, although I think it makes the world substantially less cool. What pains me is the fact that I can’t really mount an argument for manned space flight that rises above, “But it’s so cool!” That would work and be adequate reason for an eight year old, but I just don’t think it’s a rationale that an adult should embrace (at least not by itself).

As undeniably sweet as it is to have a space station, I don’t think the science it produces justifies the cost. There are tons of things that NASA is doing – from sending a probe to the sun to all the various Mars probes going on – that are producing good science at reasonable costs. I don’t think this should be the end for NASA. I do think we should reconsider what we get out of something in a clear, levelheaded way. Although, if NASA were to decide that they wanted to send me into space, I would consider changing my mind.