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February 25, 2004
Space: what does it do for you?
The following letter from NSS member Arthur Smith was published in "Suffolk Life" February 25, 2004. Reprinted with permission of the author.
Space: what does it do for you?
To the Editor, Suffolk Life
Brent Marcovecchio and Christine Suarez (Point of View "Let's Deal With Problems on Earth" and letter, Feb 18, 2004) have a point: a lot of the money that goes to NASA is not spent wisely. NASA has for years been treated primarily as a jobs program for engineers and aerospace contractors in selected congressional districts. Yes, there are spectacular images to show for it all, but what does it do for you?
Space has enormous untapped potential to benefit average people, much as the Americas did 500 years ago. Do we need new renewable energy sources? Solar energy trillions of times what we use now streams past us through empty space every day. Learning to live in small enclosed environments, such as the proposed base on the Moon, could have enormous impact on recycling and resource conservation here on Earth. New innovative companies developing reliable reusable spacecraft promise a new era of space tourism as accessible as travel on any cruise ship.
It's the 21st century in a big universe; we need to spend just a little of our effort on better figuring out our place in it.
Arthur Smith
President, Long Island Space Society
Posted by apsmith at 04:34 PM
February 20, 2004
Space program benefits humankind
NSS Director J. David Baxter had the following feature article published in the Salt Lake City Desert Morning News on February 20, 2004. Reprinted with permission of the author.
Space program benefits humankind - By J. David Baxter
Advancing the space program benefits mankind in several ways.
There are benefits to national defense. The
Moon, Mars and asteroids represent the new military high ground of
space. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld Rumsfield led the President's
task force that determined American astronauts must be sent to this
high ground of space. China and the European Union, have plans to
establish their presence there. The United States needs to be able to
defend its orbital assets. Earth has had some close calls with
asteroids. Nuclear devices can be used to aim them at the United
States. Without action in the future, a nation, hostile toward the
United States and its allies, could gain the leadership.
There are spiritual benefits. When we do space exploration, we are studying the creator's handiwork. On the Apollo 15 Moon Mission, Astronaut Jim Irwin stated that he could feel the influence of God there. Ancient Man recognized the hand of the creator in the regular motions of the Moon and Planets. The telescope brought out these wonders in greater detail. Unmanned space probes revealed even greater glory. Watching astronauts walk on the Moon, brought us closer to the experience.
Future advancements in space transportation will make it possible for average citizens to tour the solar system. Being inspired by the wonders of God's creations, is worth infinitely more than the money spent to explore it.
We also need a Final Frontier. When Queen Elizabeth, of England, pledged her country's wealth on settling the new world, her country became a superpower for more than 400 years. China, in 1433, had discovered the Americas, started to colonize them it, and then gave up, because they wanted to focus on problems at home. They lost everything. We need the exploration and settlement of the space frontier to remain a robust, viable civilization.
The Space Program is part of the solution to unemployment. Increased space funding would directly create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
The whole Moon has yet to be explored. Where there is heavy cratering, there should be the same natural resources found in asteroids and meteorites. There should be a considerable quantity of high grade iron ore. Using weightless space manufacturing techniques, steel 4 four times stronger than that made on Earth could be created. In lesser amounts, other natural resources include titanium, gold, silver, platinum, and many other elements. Platinum mining could be worthwhile with current space transportation costs.
Construction in outer space, using outer space resources, will dramatically bring down the cost of building space settlements and factories. Solar Energy could be harvested 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and beamed safely down to collectors on Earth.
Werhner Von Braun has stated that growth in the U.S. economy is dependant on research and development. During the 1960s, one fourth of the nation's total research and development was invested in the Space Program. During the same time period, the Gross National Product doubled.
Much of medical technology and industrial processes have benefited from the Sspace Pprogram. A commonly quoted figure is that the benefits are worth 7 seven times the cost.
Finally, tens of thousands of students bettered their education after being inspired by the Apollo Moon Pprogram. Many of these young people dreamed of becoming astronauts or workers on space development. These better educated individuals went on to make the United States economy much stronger, by their becoming more productive members of the work force.
We cannot afford not to go to the Moon, Mars, and the solar system.
J. David Baxter is President of the Utah Space Association and on the board of directors of the National Space Society.
Posted by apsmith at 04:31 PM