{"id":1874,"date":"2017-03-21T16:44:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T20:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2017-03-21T16:44:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T20:44:47","slug":"should-we-go-to-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/21\/should-we-go-to-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Should we go to Mars?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Should we go to Mars? Today President Trump signed a bill authorizing monies for NASA to explore sending human beings to Mars.<\/span><\/p>\n

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There is no doubt in my mind that we should mount a mission to the Red Planet (Mars). Why, because of all the things that will be developed because of such an endeavor. But one of the Office of Management and Budget<\/a> missions that will eliminated is the Asteroid Redirect Mission<\/a>. This mission was going to land on an asteroid and redirect a large boulder on it to an orbit around our moon so that it could be studied plus demonstrate a enhanced gravity tractor asteroid deflection system that would do the actual redirection to the moon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What will happen is that private sector co-operation with NASA would be emphasized, instead of NASA being the leading partner. This goes with Trump\u2019s idea of pushing for less public agency spending and more of the private sector picking up the slack. This kind of makes sense if you believe in what Trump is pushing, but all in orbit science missions are also to be canceled. And this is just ridiculous!<\/span><\/p>\n

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There is no way that private industry will ever do what NASA has been doing! Letting NASA do what it does best, science makes sense and yet the Trump administration does not see the folly of its ways. His administration\u2019s short term thinking is not going to make America great again; it will just let us fall further behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

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What the real problem is that politicians have a too shortsighted vision and when it comes to space exploration they can not see the benefits<\/a>. For example the computers that we have today would not have been developed, satellite television, battery powered tools and much more would most likely not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Only President Kennedy had the vision<\/a> to recognize that it costs money to make even more money! Maybe someday we again will have someone in government that can see beyond the next year or two. Until then will be a second rate space power. Remember right now we are using a Russian space vehicle to get our astronauts to the International Space station and back.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Private industry can not, at least in the short term, bridge the gap left by NASA not doing what it has done in the past. You have to remember that private industry has to make a profit and NASA does not. This can make the difference between going back to the moon and not doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In conclusion I would love to see NASA and private industry working hand in hand for the betterment of mankind, but their goals are so far apart this may never happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

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That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike<\/span><\/p>\n