Re: I take objection to NASA's Mars plans!

Brad,

The United States mounted a series of Lunar Expeditions which placed 12
men on the lunar surface and 6 more on orbit around the moon - a total
of 18 people. Another 3 did a lunar flyby and return to Earth after
their spacecraft failed mechanically enroute. This effort was known at
the time as Project Apollo and was the brainchild of Werner vonBraun a
German rocket scientist who proposed a lunar mission to President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy as a way to 'beat' the Russians in space. It was in
all the papers. Really. It truly was.

See, Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon in 1959, just a few years after
the Russian's launched the world's first satellite Sputnik in 1957.
Nixon was Vice President of the United States at that time, that was
during the Eisenhower presidency. Nixon clung to Eisenhower's
coat-tails, so Kennedy thought he had to beat Eisenhower to beat Nixon.
Eisenhower was a famous World War II General, and well-respected for
his leadership during that war. But, people's concern over Sputnik,
the highly public failure of the early Vangaurd attempts during IGY,
and continued space firsts by the Russians in 1958 and 1959, led
Kennedy to propose to the public that the US suffered a missile gap and
required new leadership in the coming age of space to compete in the
modern era. Since Kennedy was younger than Eisenhower, and Eisenhower
clearly failed to be first in space - Kennedy thought this a useful way
to go in his run against Nixon. And, in the end, it was successful -
along with the help of the Democratic political machine in Chicago -
and Kennedy won the Presidency in November 1959.

One of the first things Kennedy did after becoming president was
promote Project Mercury as a means to beat the Russians in space by
vowing Amerca would put the first person in space.

When the Russians orbited Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961 - well before
Alan Shepard's sub-orbital flight in May of that year aboard the first
manned Mercury flight - Kennedy was livid! He called for meetings with
space experts and asked was there any way to beat the Russians in
space? Experts were called to the White House. vonBraun proposed
sending a manned expedition to the moon by the end of the decade.
Dyson and Taylor proposed developing a nuclear pulse rocket to gain
mastery in the solar system over the same period. Kennedy chose to
commit the US to a manned moon expedition.

http://vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/ricetalk.htm


"We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be
gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the
progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all
technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a
force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States
occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new
ocean will be a sea of peace or a new, terrifying theater of war."

Kennedy was assasinated in November 1963 - after failing in his efforts
to liberate Cuba (this was continuation of a program put in place by
Eisenhower) Kennedy viewed any military adventurism such as the
proposed invasion of Vietnam (also started by Eisenhower) very
negatively. Johnson now president after the Assasination and McNamara
the secretary of defense, redirected resources away from nuclear space
propulsion and nuclear air propulsion and other advanced technology
programs and moved funds toward expanded spending on Vietnam, while
preserving the lunar commitments over the period. Perhaps even covert
ops were authorized against the Soviet space program to slow it down
and derail it, which is suggested by Korolev's death following a
routine surgical procedure;

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/korolev.html

Once it was clear that the US would be first on the moon, NASA funding
was limited to 1% of the federal budget.

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_18-16_Apollo_Program_Budget_Appropriations.htm

(Note peak year was 1967, two years before the lunar landing)


Even so, the moon trips and other space activities gave rise to Gaia
hypothesis and the public response of images of Earth floating alone
and vulnerable in space ultimately resulted in the environmental
movment. The money spent developing this capacity also gave humanity
the first assets based on space borne capital, which in turn provided
the first global services. This capacity will lead ultimately toward
integration of the disparate nations we take for granted today.

See, Mutual Assured Destruction, leads to an uneasy global peace.
Global communications, global navigation, global sensing - all lead to
coordination of global resources in a global marketplace. All are the
result of our earlier efforts in space.

Continued progress should be expected - if we were committed to such
progress. But we are not - not whole heartedly. Instead we see the
rise of irrational beliefs - reflected in your commentary - along with
blocks of private development of space faring capacities in an effort
to contain missile and nuclear weapons proliferation.

Irrationalities such as yours could also be part of a disinformation
campaign to marginalize any serious discussion of space travel and its
benefits to humanity in the present day - done so in order to preserve
national interests against globalization of politics and the world
population.

.

Relevant Pages
Quantcast