LETTER: We shouldn’t give up on space exploration

So for a while after 1969 it seemed that in space exploration, the human race would indeed go boldly where no man had gone before.

But in the 41 years since America’s landing on the moon, space exploration hasn’t lived up to what it could and should be, due to the high cost of maintaining space programs and the lack of political will.

This is evident with the cancellation of NASA’s Constellation program due to budget cuts. This decision by President Obama will affect America’s future in space and economy for many years to come.

The Constellation program was to have marked a change in eras for NASA — from the space shuttle near earth missions, to infrastructure missions for deep space exploration.

Now, without the research that would have gone into deep space exploration, the development of new and improvement of old technologies will be slowed, meaning many cities such as Athens will not become new centers for high-tech research.

Also lost is the hope that more jobs could have been created by the hi-tech sector of the economy. To help replace the jobs lost in the great recession. Because no private sector company will go into space without a strongly funded NASA to offset that cost.

One answer to cutting that cost for America and the rest of the world will be the formation of an international space agency that can put the best that each of the world’s nations have to offer under one space program.

Mankind’s journey to the stars will be a long and dangerous process but well worth the cost. As space exploration will take the human race to many new frontiers and discoveries. That will continue to improve our everyday life and help us solve the dangerous problems of this century.

So going to the stars isn’t out of place for us, because we are explorers at heart. But what is out of place for us is to quit on our future.

Sincerely,

Terry D. Adams