Shuttle Program​—For War or for Peace?

The history of NASA is one of constant clashes between those who saw the agency as a means of peaceful exploration of space and those who saw it mainly as an opportunity to get the drop on the Soviets in the Cold War. In 1982 this conflict of interests was summarized by Harold C. Hollenbeck, member of the House of Representatives, when he said to the House Science and Technology Committee: “The tragedy is the American people are not aware of the politicizing and militarizing of the civilian space agency. . . . It was a civilian-​run team that put us on the moon . . . I, for one, do not want a gold-​plated space program that is part of some Star Wars Pentagon. . . . I can only hope the next generation of Americans will not look back upon those of us here today as the leaders who sat in silence as America turned a noble endeavor into an interstellar war machine.”

He continued with a remark that summed up the mess that man was making of his future: “We went into space as a new frontier and now we drag the hate and the bitterness of earth into the heavens as if it is the right of man to make war everyplace.” Big business and political and military interests were trying to take over NASA. Billions of dollars and thousands of jobs (and votes) were tied up in its future.

A logical question now is, What have been some of the benefits for mankind of space exploration, and what does the future hold?

Space Exploration​—What Does the Future Hold?

WITH the collapse of the Soviet Communist empire, most of the competition has gone out of the space race. Some scientists are now without their original motivation​—someone to beat. Instead of competing, Russian and American space scientists are talking of cooperating, of pooling their knowledge and skill. But there are still aims to achieve and questions to answer. One question many ask is, What are the benefits for mankind from all this tremendous effort and expense to explore outer space?

A NASA publication says that during the span of the last three decades, “more than 300 launches [of unmanned craft] were conducted for programs ranging from solar system exploration to improved weather forecasting, global communications and Earth resources studies.” Have the results justified the vast amounts of money poured into these programs? NASA asserts that they “have more than repaid the nation’s investment in time, money and technical talent.” NASA further justifies the expense by saying: “About 130,000 Americans are employed because of the space program conducting research to improve fire-​resistant fabrics and paint, smaller and longer lasting radios and TVs, tougher plastics, stronger adhesives, electronic monitoring systems for hospital patients, improved computer technology, as well as other areas of research.”

Another peripheral benefit of the space program is the more detailed mapping of the earth’s surface, and even below the earth’s surface. The second shuttle flight included an experiment “using a relatively primitive optical recorder.” It “was supposed to be a simple geological survey using ground-​imaging radar.” (Prescription for Disaster, by J. J. Trento) But there was an unexpected payoff. “When the ship returned and the images . . . were processed, the roads and streets of an ancient city buried by the sands of the Sahara were revealed. A lost civilization was discovered.” Moreover, there is another benefit that affects all of us.

What Will the Weather Be?

The daily weather forecast, with maps and visual aids, is something most people with a TV now take for granted. Yet, how it changes our ability to plan for each day! Usually, if there is going to be a storm or it is going to rain or snow, you will know hours ahead of time​—thanks to the weather satellites out there in earth orbit.

For the last 30 years, meteorological satellites have been transmitting information on the earth’s weather. A NASA publication states: “These satellites not only make it possible to understand our environment better, they also help to protect us from its dangers.” It notes further that in 1969 a hurricane struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast, causing property damage worth $1.4 billion. “Yet, thanks to weather satellite forecast, only 256 people lost their lives, and most of these could have been spared if they had heeded the early warnings to evacuate the area.” Surely, these benefits could be applied to other parts of the earth that regularly suffer from the deadly effects of monsoons and storms.

Space scientists are not just interested in spin-​off benefits for earth’s inhabitants. Their goals go much further.

Populating Planets

Another ambition also fires the imagination of many​—the desire to populate and exploit other planets. George Henry Elias, in his book Breakout Into Space​—Mission for a Generation, writes: “The construction of an interplanetary civilization is essential to the survival of our species. . . . We humans now occupy an entire planet, and it is time for us to move on to a larger habitat. An empty solar system awaits us.” His immediate sights are on the planet Mars.

One person who definitely thinks man should go to Mars is Michael Collins, former astronaut who piloted Gemini 10 in 1966 and also piloted the command module of Apollo 11, which took man to the moon. In his book Mission to Mars, he says: “Mars seems friendly, accessible, even habitable.”

Bruce Murray, longtime manager of Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, strongly advocates a joint United States-​Russian venture to Mars. As a cofounder of the Planetary Society, he has recently pushed the “To Mars . . . Together” initiative. He says: “Mars is the planet of the future. It will constitute a playing field for the adventuresome members of future generations.”

Marshall Brement, former U.S. ambassador to Iceland, writes: “The two countries can teach each other much in this field [of space]. The Soviet manned space program is second to none; Soviet cosmonauts hold all the records for time in orbit. . . . Commitments by both nations to establish together a station on the moon, to circumnavigate Venus, and to land on Mars could have great scientific value.”

The Planetary Society, which includes as a founder Cornell University astronomer Carl Sagan, published “The Mars Declaration,” which stated: “Mars is the world next door, the nearest planet on which human explorers could safely land. . . . Mars is a storehouse of scientific information​—important in its own right but also for the light it may cast on the origins of life and on safeguarding the environment of the Earth.”

We have already seen that many scientists are optimistic about mankind’s ability to reach Mars and settle on it. Human curiosity and a yearning for knowledge will no doubt continue to impel men and women to expand the frontiers of discovery. One of the purposes of the Hubble Space Telescope, according to a NASA fact sheet, is to “search for other worlds, other galaxies and the very origins of the universe itself.” NASA also states: “The outlook for space activities in the 21st century is exciting and challenging. We can envision such important achievements as industries operating in orbit, Moon bases, and manned expeditions to Mars. Now that the space frontier has been crossed, there is no turning back.”