End space exploration now

Earlier this year, NASA submitted a budget request to the tune of $18.7 billion. If the organization receives even a fraction of this amount, it would still be a heinous crime  against the people of the world.

It’s long past time for us to admit that space exploration is a waste of time, intellectual energy and scarce resources. In July of this year, the final shuttle landing was completed, leading supporters of space exploration to lament the end of an era. Supporters of space exploration point to the moon landing, the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station to convince us of the validity of their programs.

They stare slack-jawed at high resolution images of the surface of Mars and expect us to pay the same slavish attention to unremarkable photos. But space exploration is not important. It never was important.

It’s a relic from the Cold War and a lingering opportunity for selfish members of the scientific community to delude the public about the realistic prospects of their research.

This intellectual infection has deep roots in the American psyche. We’re raised to idealize astronauts and to worship at the feet of Neil Armstrong. Many of us, myself included, have spent hour upon hour watching reruns of “Star Trek.”

Recently, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute was able to resume efforts to detect alien radio signals, based largely on private donations with financial assistance from the United States Air Force. This is a ludicrous waste of money. Even if these scientists did detect an alien signal, a statistical delusion, there is no guarantee the signal would be close enough for any real communication. The SETI scientists and the donors who support them are chasing a fantasy.

Alien life might exist, but we know human misery exists. It exists here and now, not across the galaxy. Every day, 16,000 children die from hunger related causes. That’s one child every five seconds. Every 20 seconds, a child dies from water-related illness.

We have to wonder how many children died while Neil Armstrong was strutting across the moon. The funding invested in space exploration needs to be redirected toward research into treating illness and distributing care to prevent death.

The effort currently directed toward dreaming up new shuttles, new probes and new telescopes needs to be turned to biological research on disease and malnutrition. No one ever died from a shortage of Jupiter pictures , but people are dying from malnutrition and disease. It’s time we stopped supporting the delusions of space exploration.

Abolish NASA, cut airforce funding of SETI and revoke every cent from these fraudulent organizations.

­— atcrane@indiana.edu