Sunday, May 17, 2009
First Black Head of NASA?
Former shuttle astronaut Charles F. Bolden could be the first black NASA chief. This could be the choice of Obama to head NASA. The space program has fallen on hard times. National priorities are more down to earth. Projects to fly a rocket to the moon may not be as important when we are in a severe economic recession.
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Recessions come and go, NASA is an investment in the future. Not to mention its really a drop in the bucket, 18 billion dollars eh? The Department of Education's budget is 46.7 billion, Department of Transportation is 72.5 billion, Health and Human Services (Medicare, Medicaid, etc) is 630 billion, and Department of Defense is 533.7 billion.
Just to put it in perspective that 18 billion, scaling back there certainly isn't going to make much of a difference. Not that I'm saying we shouldn't make sure taxpayer money isn't wasted or that we shouldn't make sure we're meeting the priorities that are best for our country.
There is real worth in funding science though, and even worth in funding manned spaceflight. Sure we should make sure to always have the middle ground, but waiting until the world is perfect is going to be a long wait. The future is what we make it, not what comes to us.
There will be other recession, on that you can bet the bank.
Especially with other space agencies moving forward quickly, NASA should and must stay a leader in space flight and exploration. Not to mention its the best publicity for our country that we could ever buy. They may be in doubt over our government around the world, but where NASA is concern the world wishes us well and their imagination is stirred by our example.
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