Space Shuttles and Pork

I read an interesting article on the Hubble Space Telescope and whether it will be repaired or allowed to die. The Hubble, originally put into space in 1990, has provided a great deal of knowledge and images of the universe, particularly from the universe's early days. Some of these pictures have been spectacular and have captured much of the public's imagination. However, a couple years ago, the Hubble was put onto the death track. NASA was going to let the Hubble die, rather than repair it, as is required every few years.

"Why?" you might ask. Well, quite simply, NASA's funding priorities have shifted and the long-term plan for NASA doesn't focus on these kinds of explorations. Instead, as we all know, Bush has ordered NASA to prepare for a mission to Mars, which will be considerably expensive. In addition, NASA is trying to finish the International Space Station and eventually retire its fleet of space shuttles.

This brings me to my major point: NASA has become nothing but a giant pork-barrel agency. The space shuttle and the international space station serve nothing except to provide a means by which Congress can appropriate billions upon billions of dollars for the building and buying of parts for the shuttle and space station. After the Columbia disaster several years ago, I read an article examining why the shuttle program, despite all its flaws, was still around. Succinctly put, a majority of Congressional districts contain companies that are involved, in some way, with production of things for the shuttle program.

The shuttle program itself is useless. It was invented as a cheap, reliable, and quick-turnaround way to go back and forth to space. Instead, it has been expensive and unreliable and the delay between each shuttle trip is MUCH longer than originally planned, making the whole thing a giant waste of government money. Moreover, it is abundantly clear that the amount of knowledge being gained by shuttle trips, vis-a-vis things like the Mars rovers, is considerably less than one would hope for that amount of money.

So, now, of course, everyone says that we need the shuttle program to finish the space station, but I want to know why we need the space station. It seems to me that we have a piece of circular logic here. The space station was created in order to have a mission for the space shuttle (rather than being, say, an expensive ferry for satellites, which could be blasted into space by unmanned rockets). Now, the space station serves as a reason to keep the space shuttles around.

I realize that I'm rambling a bit here, but, to be frank, I'm baffled as to why all this money is poured into these things. We have tons of problems here on planet earth that a few extra billions could put a dent in. Our federal government is hemorrhaging money (due to the unnecessary reductions in taxes by the Republicans), and, despite this, we have a president who thinks it's a good idea to send a manned mission to Mars. What the %*#$ is going on with these people?

This is a complete and total waste. We have rockets that can ship things into space more cheaply and without the loss of life. The shuttle and station accomplish nothing more than serving each other. Mars provides no tangible benefit to our society except to drain away our money. Moreover, we now have private companies expressing interest in reaching space, even bringing up space tourists.

I think that what would be better is if Bush, in proposing we go to Mars, were to ask all Americans whether they want their taxes raised by "X" annually to support such a mission. It is absurd that we borrow the money to pay for such extravagant expenses, expecting future generations to pay higher taxes to pay back the money. What is wrong with the Republican Party?