Washington puts NASA on hold, technological development on hold too?
The Associated Press released information today that President Obama has ordered an outside review be conducted on NASA’s manned space program, which includes plans for future moon visits.
Washington wants the report ready by August, a mere three month’s time for White House science adviser John Holdren and an independent panel to review a laundry list of things NASA has planned for the future. This list includes the design of a new spacecraft that will replace the space shuttle and eventually go to the moon, the five-year gap between the shuttle’s retirement and the release of new moon vehicles.
According to Fox News, NASA has spent $6.9 billion on the plan – yes, just the plan – to return to the moon.
The current U.S. debt is floating somewhere around $11 trillion, a number that steadily grows at an exponential rate every day.
Some are upset over Washington’s newly built wall against NASA and the space program, while others, concerned with the teetering economy, are rooting it on and wanting more.
Yes, this current halt on NASA spending will save millions of dollars a month; however, it will also inhibit current research into unusual space particles like antimatter, dark matter and cosmic rays. Theoretically, breakthroughs in research into any of these could result in a massive technological boom that may make Star Trek look like the Stone Age.
Do we really need another trip to the moon right now? Or should we be concentrating a little closer to home, such as right here on U.S. soil, dealing with the current economical struggle?
An unequivocal answer to this question is as equivocal as the universe itself.
Brittany @ May 9, 2009