Rick Raw: End of Manned Space Exploration–The Fantastic Dream of Colonizing Other Planets is Lost in The Economic Apocalypse

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

Recently we celebrated the 40th anniversary of landing a man on the moon. This entire program was driven by the Space Race with the Soviet Union. The aerospace industry was given financial carte blanche to spend any amount necessary to beat the Russians to the moon.

In the dark paranoia of the Cold War, beating the Soviets was the Kennedy administration’s prime directive. After all, world peace was at stake. At the time, the Soviets were a palpable threat to humanity.

When the Space Shuttle is scrapped next year, there is nothing to replace it. Thousands of aerospace engineers and technicians will lose their jobs. The economic collapse plunged the country into the worst recession since the Great Depression. Manned space exploration is one of many victims of this financial crisis.

For years, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has led a tireless campaign to promote a manned Mars mission. Other NASA officials have planned out another trip to the moon. Sadly, these ambitious programs are way too expensive in today’s economic climate. They remain on the drawing boards.

Development of the Orbital Space Plane has stalled due to lack of funding. This was the vehicle to replace the Shuttle to haul supplies and rescue astronauts from the International Space Station. Now they only have a small Russian built escape pod should they have to abandon ship.

The dream of manned space exploration and colonization of other planets will have to be put on hold until we solve our domestic issues like health care, economic rejuvenation, green energy jobs, et al. The recession hasn’t bottomed-out yet, but there are signs that there is a resurgence of housing starts and other positive economic indicators.

Presently, NASA is getting $60 Billion a year, a paltry sum compared to NASA’s expenses for research and development of new technology. That amount could be drastically cut to $20 billion a year. After the cuts, NASA may no longer exist.

More significantly, the Zeitgeist has lost the will and excitement for continuing manned space flight. Indeed, the fantastic dream of further space travel, which we all envisioned after the moon landing in 1969, has fizzled out.

Today, millions of people are out of work and have lost their homes through foreclosure. These once middle class people are scraping by, living off unemployment compensation. Big corporations are still laying-off employees, and the job market is abysmal. Our very survival as a superpower is at stake.

More depressingly, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have cost billions and over 5,000 casualties. Admiral Mullen, Head of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the situation in Afghanistan is "grim," because "the Taliban occupy a third of the country."

On the positive side, there are multi-billionaires who have formed private space companies with visionary ideas to move forward with manned space flight in cheaper vehicles. Five years ago, they achieved a manned sub-orbital flight.

Interestingly, NASA’s robot space vehicle program has stepped up its pace with new and exciting robot space vehicles to explore the outer reaches of the solar system. Two advanced spacecraft packed with instruments are on their way to Pluto and Ceres, a Texas sized asteroid orbiting nearby to explore these celestial bodies. They will reach their goal by 2015.

Perhaps, it makes more sense to send out unmanned robot spacecraft which can accomplish almost the same thing as manned missions. Protecting humans in space is highly complex and expensive. Let the robots take the risk. Well, it’s a great rationalization, but not the same.