The other night I was laying in bed trying to get tired enough to fall asleep. While channel surfing, I stumbled on the NASA’s channel in hopes that I would be bored. Instead, as I watched astronauts that were aboard the international space station orbiting our planet, I realized that getting rid of the space program is ridiculous.
I watched as the astronauts floated around our earth and I thought if we do not have anybody for the United States up there in our sky, who is going to watch over us? Can we trust fellow nations with our safety from above? I know this is a pessimistic way of thinking, but it honestly freaked me out a little.
I think it’s extremely important for the United States to continue in space exploration and continue to be a leader in future discoveries. We are, or should I say we were, a country to lead others in exploration. We are a country of science and learning. Why is our government taking this privilege from us? The space program not only demonstrates American’s passionate minds to learn, but it creates jobs.
Beyond the space discoveries we could potentially make, the economic crisis is hit hard by lost jobs because this program seems irrelevant in hard times. I really don’t understand why this program is viewed as unimportant and does not make a difference in our economy. It helps our economy, our social responsibility and technological advances.
What I mean is that there are so many jobs in this industry that scaling back has shoved many people out of work already. Personally, I already know a handful of people who lost their jobs because the funding is not there. However, our government seems to believe there will be plenty of jobs in other industries.
Plus, I was thinking the United States has a social responsibility to the citizens for constant education and discovery. Americans have a lot of pride and I think one of the areas we have pride in is being an innovative and scientific country. I could be wrong though.
Also, we all know that the technology NASA and other companies that create for the space programs have to use is state of the art, cutting edge technology. If the space program is gone or put on the back burner, who is going to guide us in the technologic world? Google? Don’t get me wrong, I love Google, but scientists are just as important as computer geeks.
I’m concerned that people who don’t really care what this country stands for are ripping up this nation’s roots. I’m also concerned that our citizens are not being informed about the importance of discovery and innovation. We need the space program.
I’ll throw out one last crazy, hypothetical situation. What if the time comes that our scientists realize we are in the last years of Earth’s life and they have the technology, experience and knowledge to take us to a new planet that can sustain life. Wouldn’t you want that option available?
I think failing to realize the importance of space science will be the end of mankind. We should take life into our hands and continue exploring the unknown. Maybe a competitive industry in this field is a good idea for our future.