Why Return to Space Now?
Recently, Michael Griffen, the Administrator of NASA released a statement entitled, “Why Explore Space?“ In short he concluded that since it was difficult and expensive to do anything in space, we might as well reach for the brass (or in this case, iron) ring. Since the Challenger disaster of 2003, NASA has been holding its breath, not even risking manned flight until 2005. The statement, almost grim in its assessment of the dangers, emphasizes the importance of our work on the International Space Station, as a training ground to hopefully keep us from founding a Mars Base Roanoke.
It has been so long since we looked beyond our own orbit. The Space Shuttle, a workhorse for nearly 30 years now, has completed nearly 120 orbital missions. Crews space walk, run experiments, launch satellites and ferry supplies back and forth to the now well-underway International Space Station (ISS) — not far from where Alan Shepard recited his famous prayer back in 1961. Should we make it back to The Moon by NASA’s 2018 deadline, it will be 43 years since humans have set foot on that nearest of planetary bodies. That’s a long time. Can it really be that long since Apollo 17 wrapped up the Apollo program early? A lot has happened since then.
Consider 1972 — it was kind of a rough year in the United States and worldwide. It was right about then the “oil crisis” that would come to define the seventies was beginning. Terrorist organizations were active in Ireland, Germany, Israel and most notably at the Summer Olympic games. Vietnam was clearly becoming a quagmire that the U.S. would take another three years to extract itself from. There was also something about a little hotel in D.C. called Watergate. Tumult was in the air and the 60s were definitely over — heck, Hair even closed on Broadway. It was also the year we caught our first glimpse of Mars when Mariner 9 became the first artificial satellite of to orbit an extraterrestrial planet. Recombinant DNA was used for the first time, creating a whole new science of biotechnology. It was also the year our first deep-space craft, Pioneer 10 was launched. Landstadt 1 achieved orbit and became our first utility satellite. Sometimes change is good.
Every decade has a point where things seem to change, and one could argue that it did not really become the 70s ’til 1972. It is no wonder our priories changed. Those maps sent home by Mariner 9, covering over 80% of the Martian surface, would pave the way for the Viking missions. Perhaps the continued and unparalleled success of the Mars Global Surveyor and Rover missions are good omens for our next big steps on the Red Planet.
But, why now? Our robots have been very successful. What justifies the danger and expense of training astronauts for a multi-year mission? We knew to send humans to Mars in the 1970s would have been foolhardy. Now NASA is being asked to accomplish a manned landing and the first steps towards a permanent presence in the solar system on a fraction of the Apollo-era budgets. What lessons do the robotic missions of the 90s, successful or not, teach us about interplanetary travel on a shoestring budget? It would seem the current administrator has decided the lesson is that fate smiles upon the bold.
Should we make it to Mars by 2022, we might be able to see the final descent of Mariner 9, as its orbit finally decays into the thin Martian atmosphere. Either way, it certainly is about time we got serious about getting off this rock.
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 1:05 am and is filed under Mission History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
