When the Atlantis shuttle thundered into orbit July 8, it marked the end of an era. The final launch closes out a 30-year program that cost nearly $200 billion and claimed the lives of 14 astronauts.
In 135 flights into space, however, the United States launched the Hubble Space Telescope and five missions to repair and upgrade it; completed the first and only three-man spacewalk; debuted NASA’s first woman space commander; made dozens of flights hoisting the building blocks of the International Space Station; and took dozens of astronauts into space on the Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis shuttles.
This final launch marks the end of the shuttle program and a time of uncertainty for NASA as the agency has been charged with sending humans to an asteroid by about 2025 and to Mars a decade after that. The business of building and flying space shuttles will be left to private companies.
While the mission changes, it is important that the U.S. maintain a strong program, since NASA is responsible for more than just space travel.
In addition to aeronautics research, NASA does scientific research and develops applications for weather and communications satellites.
Since its inception in 1958, the agency has successfully traveled in space, and looking forward, the Mars Pathfinder was commissioned and became the first in a fleet of spacecraft that will explore Mars in the next decade.
NASA also aided the U.S. response to the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill in 2010. Advanced remote-sensing instruments on NASA satellites and aircraft provided data on the spill’s location, oil concentrations and impact on ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA data helped federal and state agencies and organizations that worked to contain the spill and lead recovery efforts. NASA has also sent several research aircraft to continue to help federal and state agencies document changes in the marshes, swamps, bayous and beaches along the Gulf Coast.
In addition to making great advances in aeronautics and technology, NASA also employs thousands of people ”“ many of whom will be laid off with the end of the shuttle program.
These people ”“ many of them highly trained and educated ”“ have created and participated in this country’s legacy of space travel. They have much to offer and should be put back to work on other projects or at other agencies.
Keeping NASA strong and keeping this country’s inventors and innovators at work is paramount for the future of technology and life on Earth. The end of the shuttle era could mean the end of America’s leadership in space if the government does not continue to invest in and support NASA. At the time of the final launch of Atlantis, former NASA Administrator Michael Griffinand said, “for us to abandon that (America’s role in space) in favor of nothing is a mistake of strategic proportions.”
As NASA works on future endeavors, members of Congress and the president should keep in mind that the agency will need support and funding to allow the U.S. to be a leader in the field and to continue to explore further into the solar system.
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