Space is the now frontier

In case you had not heard, NASA’s most recent long-term plans have been to bring the International Space Station (ISS) to a close and instead focus on returning to the moon. The Constellation Program was designed to have astronauts on the moon by 2020. 

However, last Thursday, when President Barack Obama pledged his full support to the future of NASA, he was not speaking about going to the moon. Rather, the additional $6 billion that he intends to invest in space program has at its heart larger goals.

The purpose is to travel deeper into space than ever before. And, according to President Obama, the true future of NASA is Mars.

The current goal is to have manned vessels orbiting Mars by the mid-2030s and to land on the planet not long thereafter. President Obama said he in fact expects to see a Martian landing within his lifetime.

Although President Obama expressed passion and confidence about these goals, they are still gazing far beyond the end of his presidency. So in order for such ambitions to come to fruition, the task must be upheld by the administrations to come.

These grand intentions by our president for NASA are very positive developments.

Mars deserves to be the center of attention for our space exploration program. With the red planet being our closest Earth-like celestial body and the continued possibility of either current or ancient life, there are still many important questions that need answering. Beyond science however, there will likely be a constructive economic impact from such a grand and long-term project that will involve the work of many people and organizations.

President Obama’s proposed future for NASA encourages strong cooperation of the government agency with private companies, as well as the US’s cooperation with other nations.

Perhaps especially during tough financial times for our country, it is an excellent idea to promote progress. Such progress will be obviously technological, as many problems still need to be solved before manned missions to Mars can be a reality.

But, the progress also has an emotional aspect, for the long term exploration of our solar system gives an inspirational purpose to such an advanced civilization as ours.

Think of the glory and romance of the expedition of Louis and Clark or our first trips to the moon. Such adventures capture the imagination of many. How elevating it is to know that even during such troubled economic times our president has this in mind.