« Support for the Vision for Space Exploration | Main | Let's Support Space Program »
August 07, 2004
NASA Needs Funding
NSS Member Jason Rhian had the following letter printed in the August 2, 2004 Tampa Tribune. Reprinted with permission of the author.
NASA Needs Funding.
The July 25th editorial cartoon in the Commentary section, about the only thing NASA Couldn't do was send a man to the Moon again - was a glaring example of the smug ignorance rampant in the media.
The problem isn't that NASA is incapable of sending men to the Moon again; it's that Americans no longer have the imagination to back NASA.
To do incredible things requires support; something the public has denied NASA. Its budget is cut every year, but God help them if there is an accident! Then they're incompetent! This is the logic of the person who drew that cartoon.
During the Apollo years, NASA had the backing and funding required to accomplish the unimaginable. Now, with the loss of Columbia, a bold initiative is starved for support, and Congress is trying to cut the budget again- on the 25th anniversary of the first Moon landing, no less!
Jason Rhian
Posted by apsmith at August 7, 2004 10:04 PM
