On Thursday, President Barack Obama predicted that his new plans for space exploration would lead American astronauts on history, almost fantastic journeys to an asteroid and then to Mars - and in his lifetime - relying on rockets and propulsion still to be imagined and built. "I expect to be around to see it... we want to leap into the future," Obama said. Sound familiar? President John F. Kennedy's declared in 1961, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." That goal was fulfilled in 1969. President Obama has said that by 2025, the nation will have a new spacecraft "designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the moon into deep space." "We'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history," he said. "By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it." The biggest criticisms of Obama's plans have been that they have lacked details and goals. Several Republicans, including Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana and Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, assailed Obama's plan and speech, calling his plans "job-killing." White House science adviser John Holdren summed up Obama's program as "a faster pace in space, more missions to more destinations sooner at lower cost."
If NASA can do it, then why not? Another achievement for mankind sounds nice to me. I just hope that Obama is not biting off more than he can chew. If they can accomplish this then that's great. I just hope it's accomplished eventually in our lifetime.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
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6 comments:
Is this really what we should investing our money on right now? I understand that the nation wants to be top and show off, etc but I think they are more pressing matters that money could be spent on.
I understand where you are coming from Lily. However, the byproducts of space exploration make it well worth the cost. There is significant research that goes on in space, but I am not even talking about that. When NASA goes to do missions, it generally has tasks that can not be accomplished with existing technology. Therefore, they create their own inventions to do whatever they need them to do. Many of these inventions are then carried over to the consumer world. For instance cordless drills and precision gps systems came from NASA. So by funding NASA, the government is also funding technology advancement in general.
I agree with both mark and lily. Lily makes a valid point that there are much more pressing issues at hand than using money to send people off into space, however mark also contributes a valid point in that by funding space exploration, new technology for common usage is likely to come. I think that Obama's ideas for space exploration are good ones, so long as spending on these advancements is not in lieu of spending on schools or healthcare reform.
I agree with all of you. Should the united states be investing on space exploration right now? im not sure but all i know is that there are a lot of other problems that should be solved currently in the country. Space exploration should be saved for the future.
I'm not sure how the goal of this project is unclear...people behyond the moon, to an asteriod and mars.
I completely agree with Lilly and everyone else. I definatly think its something to invest in in the future, but right now especially considering the recession, we have bigger more immediate concerns to deal with.
We already had a plan to go back to the moon and on to mars. It was announced by Bush 2 in 2004 after the Columbia disaster. As a result the Ares 1 rocket and the Orion capsule are currently being tested so they can replace the outdated space shuttle. Obama's most recent budget proposal actually cancels this program. I believe he is saying this in response to critics accusing him of killing the space program.
Investing in space is really the only thing that is truly investing in our future. I don't think anyone can argue that the future of the human race lies in the stars. Eventually we will overpopulate Earth, run out of raw materials or global warming or a similar disaster will render it uninhabitable. the sooner we take steps towards colonizing extraterrestrial bodies, the better, in my opinion.
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