On this day in 1610, Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter. Now we have a robot on Mars! What do you think about the space program?
I?ve always been in favor of the space program. I remember when John Glenn went around the earth in the Mercury space capsule and I thought it was very exciting! There were Bugs Bunny cartoons I watched as a child and some were about going to another planet. It all seemed possible to me, it could happen. I also clearly remember when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon July, 1969. It was awesome!
I think everyone's looked up at the sky at night and wondered what was out there and if anyone lives on the stars we see. I?ve thought about how big the universe is and about the galaxies and I thought it?s very probable that God would have created inhabitants for other planets in other solar systems. Why would God create the vastness of space and then leave it empty? I don?t think it?s possible and maybe there are Bibles on other planets. We don?t know about them because we haven?t gotten beyond our own solar system.
Space probes are sent out to gather information. I think that is crucial to our understanding of what (or even who) is out there. I can?t remember the name of it, but one probe was sent out sometime in the early seventies. I remember the class discussion. It was mind boggling! This probe was going to visit Saturn and Jupiter and then it was going to go right out of the galaxy. If I?m not crazy and I?m remembering correctly, we saw pictures from that probe just a few weeks ago.
At the time it went up, we were talking about all of the cultural things placed in the probe. The intent was to show what we are like to any alien intelligences out there. How cool is that? Someday we might be contacted by another planet. It might be happening already in that people have sited unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and there are instances where they?ve claimed that they were ?taken?. I tend to think the positive of things. I imagine the aliens being more like E.T. and less like the hungry aliens of ?To serve man?.
When NASA introduced the space shuttles, I was excited. The shuttle could go to a space lab and then on its return, it could land on the ground like a plane. I thought maybe I'd be able to ride in a shuttle some day. That would be so cool! If we progressed to the place where regular citizens could ride in the shuttle, then maybe the space lab could become a "transfer station" for further travel into space. Wouldn't that be something? Take the shuttle to the space lab and from there another deep space ship going to some other planet!
I'm not sure that'll happen now. I?m sad that we aren?t funding NASA well anymore. I understand about budgets needing cuts but why NASA? I think that space exploration is highly valuable in terms of understanding. If you want to look at it from a ?benefits? point of view, perhaps we could find another home to pollute once Earth becomes too toxic for humans. I think the reason there hasn?t been any innovations to the space shuttle or lab in so many years is because there isn?t enough money for it. Everything is getting older and overused and nothing?s being replaced. And that is why we have accidents and tragedies like the loss of the Columbia last year.
My uncle John was an engineer for Fairchild Republic. He helped design the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). The space program was so exciting for years and I felt so proud that my uncle was a part of that. I still feel proud.
I wish that NASA and space exploration would become a priority again.