More on the Space Race (Or Lack Thereof)

A few days ago, I wrote an article about President Obama’s decision to cease funding our manned space program and put an end to any plans NASA had for returning to the moon. My friend Ira Schwartz wrote a follow up article a few days later. Collectively, these were the two most commented on articles in the history of this column.

As most of you will recall my article was full of memories from my childhood growing up in New York. It also dealt with some of the reasons why the space program is a necessity. Many of you disagreed.

In my prior article, I mentioned and stressed the national pride created by the Space Program to the United States and it citizens. This is true. The space program in the 60’s did bring a lot of national pride to the country. Unfortunately, what is left of the space program does not.

Why? The answer unfortunately is very simple. We have not had a visionary regarding space exploration in the White House since the resignation of Richard Nixon. Since that time, NASA has been the easiest chopping block because many people think that it is nothing more than a source of pride. “Since there is no more “space race”, there is no need for NASA.” This is another statement that I grossly disagree with.

NASA brings jobs, technology, and lastly, national pride.

During the heyday of NASA in the 1960’s and 1970’s there, were thousands of people employed either directly or indirectly by NASA, as well as thousands employed by its contractors and subcontractors. For example, besides the obvious employment in Houston at Mission Control and Florida at the Kennedy Space Center, there were thousands of people employed all over the country.

Grumman Aerospace on Long Island, one of NASA’s biggest contractors, employed hundreds on Long Island when it was awarded the contract to build the Lunar Modules. I am proud to say that my father was actively involved in the construction of the LEM. Hughes Aircraft (now Raytheon) was involved in the construction of many NASA items. As was Boeing and a slew of others. A partial list of NASA Contractors can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NASA_contractors.

In fact, the top 25 NASA contractors in 2008 included: Lockheed Martin, California Institute of Technology, Honeywell, ITT, University of California System and University of Arizona System. The full list of the top 25 can be found at: http://www.govexec.com/features/0808-15/0808-15s13s1.htm.

In plane and simple language NASA means jobs. But, that’s not all: The Space Program also means advances in science and technology.

A list of common items that are a direct result of the space program and space exploration includes: integrated circuits, scratchproof lenses, composite golf clubs, high-density batteries, blue-blocking ultraviolet sunglasses, the computer mouse and freeze-dried food. For a partial list, please see: http://www.independentmail.com/news/2009/jul/20/technology-nasa-space-program-continues-touch-ever/ , and http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/oct/HQ_08255_SPINOFF_08.html.

Today I was listening to CNN and they were talking about the launch of one of the final planned manned space missions. The Challenger took off in a flawless nighttime launch yesterday. During the discussion on CNN, it was stated that NASA is already planning 8,000 layoffs as a result of President Obama’s decision last week. That does not include any people that will be laid off at the myriad of NASA contractors. Is this the right thing to do during a recession? Maybe save some of the money on welfare and entitlement and put it into NASA.

This is just more evidence of the current administrations short sightedness. So, forget about the national pride, forget about technology. Keep NASA funded just for the jobs. And, maybe our children and grandchildren might have something to remember, especially if their dad is still employed.

© 2010 by Frank T. DeMartini Permission will be granted freely to copy upon inquiry.