As far back as 8 years old, I've been interested in astronomy and space. I remember sitting outside in the dark of night studying the constellations and the moon through a pitiful excuse for a telescope. Like so many red-blooded American boys, I was caught up in the glamour of the space program. Enraptured by the danger and the thrill of pushing thresholds into a new frontier, the brave adventurer would seek out to discover and conquer the unknown, exploring the cosmos simply because he hadn't been there yet. I left much of the fantasy behind I as grew older, perhaps in small part because of the realities of Challenger, and more recently Columbia. But the wonder remains with each new image from the Hubble telescope and the live feeds of scientific discovery from our probes on Mars.
I recently read a very long article by Rand Simberg in the New Atlantis journal. It discusses at length the evolution of America's space program in the context of its vision, as influenced by politics and society. It delves into great detail the dichotomy of pushing frontiers while chained to an unwieldy bureaucracy that defines almost every government program. As a government contractor, I can identify directly with the challenges of trying to meet too many requirements with one solution, which increases the cost and likelihood for failure to reach objectives. It is indeed a complicated matter, made worse when the business model of the organization (designed to keep people employed indefinitely) runs into conflict with fiscal responsibility and mission focus.
The thesis of the article basically suggests that the technological advancement to make us a space-faring people would be better realized by private sector entrepreneurs (with a spirit of adventure and a profit motive) combined with a government enabler that facilitates their activities. As Mr. Simberg states in his article [bold emphasis mine]:
To get past the misperceived lessons of the past four decades and to develop a “safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable” plan for manned spaceflight, we must begin by stating plainly why we should go into space, for the why gives shape to the how.
The United States should become a spacefaring nation, and the leader of a spacefaring civilization.
That means that access to space should be almost as routine (if not quite as affordable) as access to the oceans, and with similar laws and regulations. It means thousands, or millions, of people in space—and not just handpicked government employees, but private citizens spending their own money for their own purposes. It means that we should have the capability to detect an asteroid or comet heading for Earth and to deflect it in a timely manner. Similarly it means we should be able to mine asteroids or comets for their resources, for use in space or on Earth, potentially opening up new wealth for the planet. It means that we should explore the solar system the way we did the West: not by sending off small teams of government explorers—Lewis and Clark were the extreme exception, not the rule—but by having lots of people wandering around and peering over the next rill in search of adventure or profit.
The space program was born out of Cold War motives. The American West was tamed by the private individual seeking fortune, liberty, and adventure. We view NASA as the only permissible embodiment of progress into the final frontier, but maybe it shouldn't be that way. Ironically, the criticisms that NASA costs too much aren't unfounded, but it is precisely because of its organizational limitations and business model. But NASA could be more cost effective if its mission were better partnered with private sector initiatives - not more contractors, mind you, but completely private space technology ventures. While government has enormous resources it can put to bear to just about anything (courtesy the taxpayers), government in general is not the vehicle to push us into new frontiers. But it can enable others, and thereby achieve goals previously out of reach.
There is always more to discover about Creation. I'm not sold on the idea that humanity's survival and immortality depends on conquering the galaxy, however. But to have the liberty to pursue the heavens, to discover the origins, to learn more about that which God has created ... why not? Why not encourage my 9 year old son, who watched with fascination the live feed from NASA as the Mars probe landed on the surface to begin its search for evidence of water? Why should his passion for science and math and space be limited by the constraints of government organization or grants?
Government should not be the arbiter of individual dreams and discovery. But it can be an enabler that promotes and encourages such progress.
UPDATE: Here is a great example of the opportunities that exist for entrepreneurs. An ion-engine that could shorten the journey to Mars from 6 months to 39 days!
0 comments:
Post a Comment