As tempting as it is the resume writing with a blast across the bow of conservative, fundamentalist extremists in this country, and for anyone else that thinks Donald Trump is a good idea, I am resisting that urge tonight. Probably not for long, but at least for tonight.
Why? Cause July 20th is a HUGE day in world space history. On this day in 1969, at 4:18 PM EDT, Apollo 11’s Eagle landed on the surface of the Moon. At 10:56 PM EDT, Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder and onto, for the first time in human history, the surface of another world. It was a testament to the ingenuity and determination of a population of the USA who, only nine years earlier had been inspired to rise by one of the greatest speeches in our countries history. We threw our intellect, muscle and capitol into the effort, and succeeded beyond out wildest dreams. This was not even nine years since our President issued the challenge, and less than seventy years since we first learned to fly.
On July 20th, 1976, our first Mars lander, Viking 1, touched down on the surface of the Red Planet. Originally supposed to touch down on July 4th, our Bicentennial, the landing was delayed due to a landing zone that was a little too covered with boulders. Viking was our first direct effort at a search for life on another world, and was a major success for science, lasting until 1982. Perhaps more importantly, the Viking missions introduced a large number of us to perhaps the most influence scientist in modern United States history, Carl Sagan. He was critical in the PR campaign for Viking, which led to late night talk show spots and eventually, his immortal show, Cosmos.
So today marks the anniversary of two of the greatest achievements in United States space exploration. At it’s peak, NASA’s budget represented 4.4% of the US budget. Today, it is only about .5%. Yes, we still spend more on space exploration than the rest of the world combined, but India, China and others are growing, not shrinking. Yes, companies like Space X are making great strides. But we can do oh so much better. We should be back on the Moon now. We should have already landed on Mars. We should have toured, in a crewed vehicle, the outer Solar System by now.
I guess I’ll touch on politics a little after all, cause I was shocked to see a pro space exploration video up on the screen at the RNC tonight, on the anniversaries of these great achievements. This video was followed by a compelling and short speech by Col. Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander. She asked us to again reach for the stars, and correctly said that a leading nation is a nation that is willing to explore. She is absolutely correct. We could, if we chose, be back to the Moon in less than five years. To Mars in less than ten. We could have a new, bigger space station in 15. It is about will, not tech and money. And right now the will to lead in space lies in other nations.
Unfortunately, the party she was speaking to is less than willing to explore for the sake of exploration. They would rather not have any money spent on science, and might prefer that we give tax breaks to folks who build replicas of Noah’s Ark where, dinosaurs are displayed interacting with humans. Sadly, the other party right now is not all that much better, despite a recent budget uptick in President Obama’s final year in office.
No, if we are to truly take our place amongst the stars, WE must force the issue. WE must push to leave the boundaries of the Earth and spread our wings. While we work to fix our world, something that the RNC is flat out ignoring, we MUST expand out footprint off world. For our very survival.