The space shuttle missions began on 12 April 1981, and ended on 14 April as it returned to earth. Former president Regan believed in building a space station, that would lead to new technologies. Thirty years later, on June 8, 2011, the last mission was launched, carrying with it a year’s supply to the international space station which was under former president Clinton, scaled back as far as possible and now discontinued under President Obama. It was the 37th shuttle mission to the space station.
Science Daily reports…
“With today’s final launch of the space shuttle we turn the page on a remarkable period in America’s history in space, while beginning the next chapter in our nation’s extraordinary story of exploration,” Administrator Charles Bolden said. “Tomorrow’s destinations will inspire new generations of explorers, and the shuttle pioneers have made the next chapter of human spaceflight possible.”
Former President Bush seen this coming, the end of the shuttle missions so what next for America’s space program? Bush envisioned a manned flight to Mars and a space station on the moon rather than having NASA just manufacturing robots and launchers. Bush encountered much opposition towards a Mars mission so he settled on the moon one instead. But NASA’s director became incompetent with the work for the new direction that NASA was taking under Bush. So the President replaced him with a new director and things were back on track.
America’s housing market was sliding down at record rates, many Americans were released from their jobs, and the government wanted to bail out the bankers who gave out loans to a vast number of unqualified people for 12 years who after 5 years were unable to pay their mortgages when the interest rate went up. Democrats have a history of scaling down the space program even in good economic times. Since NASA was not as important as the bankers on wallstreet, President Obama killed the mission to the moon.
So now what? Last year, President Obama announced that there would be a manned mission that would be visiting an asteroid by 2025 and not only that but it could save the earth too! There have been science fiction movies about the fear of a huge asteroid hitting the planet’s surface. And not only that but very large asteroids are also used in explanations on why various ‘theories’ are failing expectations in our solar system. Is this mission cheaper than going to the moon without building a station there? The asteroid mission would require greater precision and perhaps even more risky.
“Astronauts have been to the moon and it’s time to do something new, Obama said.” Really, so there is nothing more to learn about the moon then as Astronauts dug three inches into the surface and did some other things too, right President Obama? Is the President doing this for the sake it’s new or because it was former former President Bush’s idea that Americans should return to the moon?
Don’t get me wrong, doing new things with space exploration is a fabulous idea as it has turned up much evidence that confirms creationism but when the funds are tight, then we should focus on the things we can most learn from rather than for the sake of it being “new.” Right? It will be interesting to see how well this mission will hold up under a new President, then the question will be asked again, what next? For the space program.