We Should Have Been Doing This Years Ago
I was 12 years old when I watched Neil Armstrong step onto the surface of the moon. Everyone I knew was excited about it. I believed that man was on his way to the stars.
Then my oh-so-visionary fellow Americans lost interest.
It was harder, more dangerous and (in terms of percentage of GNP at that time) more expensive for the Spaniards to reach America in 1500 than it is for us to go to the moon today. They did not give up and in the end built an empire because they dared to go and dared the risks.
NASA is formulating plans to set up a moonbase but even now it is preliminary. We have set 2020 as the target year. JFK (the last great Democrat) dared us to do it in less than 10 years and we succeeded. I believe we have the technology to do it in less than 5 years if we really wanted to, but no one has the vision.
We don't have a lander designed yet, but we know how to build one.
We don't know where to build the base but we have a good idea of where.
America is being challenged by the entire world, and this is an area where we can show that there is still some punch left in us. Islam threatens our religious freedom. Socialism threatens our economic freedom. Political Correctness threatens our freedom of speech. We defy them all by planting our flag once again on the moon.
Then my oh-so-visionary fellow Americans lost interest.
It was harder, more dangerous and (in terms of percentage of GNP at that time) more expensive for the Spaniards to reach America in 1500 than it is for us to go to the moon today. They did not give up and in the end built an empire because they dared to go and dared the risks.
NASA is formulating plans to set up a moonbase but even now it is preliminary. We have set 2020 as the target year. JFK (the last great Democrat) dared us to do it in less than 10 years and we succeeded. I believe we have the technology to do it in less than 5 years if we really wanted to, but no one has the vision.
We don't have a lander designed yet, but we know how to build one.
We don't know where to build the base but we have a good idea of where.
America is being challenged by the entire world, and this is an area where we can show that there is still some punch left in us. Islam threatens our religious freedom. Socialism threatens our economic freedom. Political Correctness threatens our freedom of speech. We defy them all by planting our flag once again on the moon.
We memorize every episode of Star Trek and yet we neglect the dream that drove the series. The dream needs to live again.
posted by shoprat at 5:39 PM
8 Comments:
The government needs to put more money in the space program. A lack of proper funding has been a problem. I'd venture to say the money needed to meet the space programs potential is astronomical and what funding is there isn't even close to what they really need.
I remember being glued to the TV way back when as well when this was happening. God Bless America, and I wish you guys great success in this endeavor.
AMEN! Outstandingly said. The problem today is we've become a nation of ninnies. When a group of 60's astronauts lost their lives on the pad we didnt' scrap the program, and call it too dangerous, we hailed them as hero's, and redoubled efforts. Today, sadly, anything that might cause a stubbed toe is looked on as too risky.
I've been looking forward to this for a while now!
Well idk about this... to me, personally I think as long as people are starving and dying of cancer, pouring billions into putting flags on the moon seems kind of... outdated. Just my opinion.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but I don't find the idea of stepping up the space program outdated at all. Space is the only frontier we have left, and it takes people with chutzpa and forsight to recognize that fact and go for it. There is so much to be learned from space, and so many things that can be learned; possibly even a way to cure cancer! If we wait until no one on this planet is starving we will never get anywhere. As long as there are dictators and Imams and all the megalomaniac rulers out there like Kim Jong Il, not to mention the corrupt UN, people are going to starve and worse!
Shoprat, I believe space will probably be conquered first by private organizations; NASA just doesn't have enough backing.
Good post. I like your spirit. :)
When we explore the stars, let us not forget the people whom live under them. What about the sea? Gayle, this is a frontier that holds more promise for new discoveries and technology. If we spent some funds on undersea exploration, just think of the womders awaiting us. We spend hundreds of millions to watch a robot drive around Mars looking "for signs of water" when we have only scratched the surface (literally!) of the oceans. I am for space exploration, but the reason that we haven't gone back to the Moon is beacuse we got the big noprize for going. There isn't anything of value there. No Inca gold, no India spiceroute. Just sand...
Well said!!
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