A non-partisan plea for NASA

By Sun Advocate

Science is responsible for just about everything we enjoy in our modern societies, from your smart phones and entertainment to your medicines and food. Without science our way of life would be entirely impossible, so now more then ever we need to come together as a country both politically as well as culturally to promote science and exploration.
At the forefront of our national science effort is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which for decades has been the source of our country’s greatest achievements and national pride. However the enthusiasm for NASA has wained in the past decade or so with attacks coming from Congress as well as some private citizens as a result of partisan bickering and religious fundamentalist push-back.
Back in the 1990s, the US had the opportunity to build and own a large hadron collider and once again be the world leaders in science and exploration but Congressional in-fighting spurred on by religious fundamentalism stopped the project, making way for Europe to become the leader of the scientific world.
If we truly want to make America great we should follow the example of the past and pour our resources back into exploration and discovery.
The Planetary Society, a organization founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, has released a request to the US Government and the Executive Branch making the case for NASA and space exploration using five main points. In the video request, CEO Bill Nye asks that these five points be taken seriously and offers to personally come to Washington DC and discuss them at length.
First: Mars is the goal. We must keep-up and maintain all existing programs centered around Mars exploration including all rovers, planned human missions and current rocket development.
Second: Orbit Mars first. Follow the Apollo mission schedule by sending humans to first orbit the red planet followed soon after by an actual human landing.
Third: Strengthen NASA science. Continue to fund programs that explore deep space, the sun, other planets and especially Earth sciences including climate change.
Fourth: Promote commercial space. With the explosion in private companies that are aimed skyward such as SpaceX, Blue Horizon and Virgin Galactic among others we are entering a new economic age with unlimited possibility for private companies to expand upward and beyond.
Fifth: Follow a five-by-five plan. By increasing NASA’s budget by five-percent yearly for five years we will not only greatly expand NASA’a capabilities but stimulate our economy as each and every one of those dollars will be spent on Earth.
NASA spends hundred of millions of dollars and projects which in turn provide tens of thousands of high-paying American jobs in fields like engineering, specialized manufacturing and across scientific fields.
As a non-partisan request, I implore my readers to call your congressperson and demand that NASA continue to be funded and demand, as a human, that we continue to explore the two most important questions there are; Where did we come from and are we alone in the universe? Only science can provide these answers.