Vision for the Future
As a fan of the space program since the early 60's, I am saddened by the decision to stop the shuttle program. I have mixed feelings about the goal of visiting Mars and asteroids with manned missions. And trips to the moon probably are inconsequential in the furtherance of human knowledge. Near earth space exploration is probably the best bang for our buck at this time and probably till the end of the century. I would prefer to concentrate on using resources to save the planet from self-destruction at the hand of man instead of exploring space beyond near earth. At the rate we are going, we will end up making our planet uninhabitable by humans if we don't change our current course. In fact it may already be too late to change the inevitable. NASA has brought us great technology over the years, from velcro to microcircuitry, and we need the knowledge from that effort to continue. I hope the brain drain from the loss of the shuttle program will be temporary and that these folks will be gainfully employed on new projects and programs that help us see the 22nd century.
