Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and author, was recently on a CBS morning show. Discussion centered around the Trump administration’s call for more space exploration and plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon prior to establishing a permanent base there.
One of the hosts inquired if it was necessary to colonize the moon saying, “we know how the age of colonialism worked on this planet.” His point being the typical leftist view of oppressor/oppressed and the displacement of indigenous people by colonizers. Tyson had to bring the host back to reality by reminding him that there were no “moon beings” that we know of to be displaced or oppressed.
Given Trump’s interest in reviving our space program, expect Democrats to oppose and denounce it. The late Charles Krauthammer once responded to a question of why we would go into space? “It’s not for practicality, he said. Any technological return is a bonus. We go for the wonder and glory of it. We go, as JFK said, not because it’s easy but because it’s hard.” Another way to put it would be in the words of Captain James T. Kirk, “to boldly go where no man has gone before us.”
Our future should not be retrained by the insular thinking of progressivism. Progressives should not limit those who like Marco Polo, Leif Erickson, Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Ponce de Leon or Henry Hudson went not because it was easy but because it was hard. RFK Jr reminds us of that when speaking of his father. Elon Musk proves “why not” is actually within our reach.
We should not let TDS limit or restrict our reach into the final frontier.
Ralph Miller
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I remember when Sputnik first went into orbit and rocked the world; I'd barely gotten the green paint from freshman initiation washed off my face. I remember when Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space; by then, only a few days and final exams stood between me and high school graduation. I remember when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon only eight years later, and watched with millions of others as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon; by that time I was an engineer and teaching college calculus, physics, and astronomy.
Oh, yes, of course I remember the noisy early days when the USA couldn't seem to launch a rocket no matter who designed it or built it or pushed the button. Hardly a week went by without some new fireworks on the (black and white) TV news. Even those first failed attempts were exciting times, if not always encouraging or complimentary to our scientists and engineers. We were certainly learning what didn't work.
As for the money being spent on all of that, it was a popular argument then, and it will surely become a louder argument any day now -- Why send all that money into space? Why send all that money to the Moon? Why bother? Why? And if you holler it loud enough, you can almost believe it makes sense, even now.
But stop and think: All of those failed rockets cost money, but that money went to American suppliers and American workers' salaries. The money never went into space -- and not just because we couldn't get there. Even when we finally got to the Moon, all that really went there (and stayed there) was some aluminum, steel, copper, silicon, plastic, and fabric.
The Web states there are 195 countries on Earth. Of those, the Web says 173 countries receive USA foreign aid. That's cash money we're sending to those countries, nearly every country on Earth - and in spite of our benevolent gifts, on any given day it's difficult to say which recipients are our friends, our true allies, because so many of them seem to be our sworn enemies, and they're very vocal about it.
But space research, Moon research, even a nuclear power plant on the Moon -- we don't send a single dollar to space or the Moon. Never have. Every dollar spent on space research, space travel, rockets, telescopes, other instruments, and astronauts' salaries -- every one of those dollars stays right here on Earth, and most of those dollars (I suppose) stay right here in the USA.
So, as far as value received for money spent, I agree with Ralph Miller -- Why not? It sure seems like a better deal than foreign aid, anyway.
Larry Cloud