The future of NASA

[Ghoulish Delight]

I know we discussed this earlier, but I think it's buried in the random political thoughts and I think it deserves its own thread. The topic popped back up on my radar today through comments from Neil Armstrong decrying the plan to scrap the Constellation program to return to the moon.

Back when that plan was first announced, I was disappointed but ambivalent. I agreed to some degree that A) there is more tangible value in the kinds of experimental/observational space travel the plan focuses on and B) the private sector would pick up the slack and meet any demand for near-earth manned space travel. But even agreeing on those two points, the decision wasn't sitting right. I couldn't put my finger on what troubled, but since then I think my feelings have coalesced.

My reservations are two-fold. First is the pure flashiness factor. At a time when people are having legitimate concerns about the enthusiasm for science in this country, it seems silly to axe the single most visible and exciting draw towards science this country has ever had - manned near earth space flight. Hard science or not, seeing people shot into orbit spawned decades worth of nerds and geeks. NASA has lost that flash and the Constellation program promised to bring it back. It's a missed opportunity to revive that feeling in this country.

Second is simply the fact that I, and I think most people, trust NASA. Of all the government programs that this country has ever put together, it's by far one of the most successful, most well loved, and, unless I'm just blind to it, the most apolitical. Both domestically and internationally. Look how they've handled the operations of the International Space Station. Cooperating with several different nations, neither arrogantly demanding to take the lead nor taking a backseat to other agencies. By all public appearances at least it's been a lesson in international cooperation between peers of the scientific community. Do I trust the private sector to do that? Not really. Not that I expect Virgin Galactic to be evil and shoot competitor craft out of the skies. But NASA has proven that they are willing to put scientific progress ahead of the desire for proprietary gain, and I have serious doubts that any private company will do the same, there's too much business interest in protecting their proprietary sh*t.

For the record, I think the job loss argument is a dumb one. No budget decision will ever be made if a net-jobs-lost calculus is all we base it on.

It feels like it's too late to change Obama's mind on this. I guess Congress still has some opportunity to exert some pressure to reinstate the program funding. I hope they do.