Space research is a worthy investment

STAFF EDITORIAL
Daily Texan (U. Texas-Austin)

(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas, USA: America has always been on a quest for exploration. In a striking parallel to former President John F. Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon in 1961, President Bush on Monday promised $16.4 billion out of the $2.6 trillion 2006 budget to be allocated to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for continued space exploration.

With its new budget, among other things, NASA is developing new space vehicles it hopes will return Americans to the moon by 2020. The money will also allow NASA to send more expeditions to Mars as well as launch the new Webb space telescope to replace the Hubble.

Although some critics of Bush's budget say the president should focus more on domestic issues, a renewed interest in space exploration would breath new life into an aging program. Following the 2003 Columbia disaster, NASA has been struggling to get space shuttles off the ground.

Space exploration and research is vital to technological advancement. Various electronic break-throughs such as cell phones, satellite imagery, digital geographic mapping and global positioning are all hand-me-downs from the space program. The space program also studies bio-medical problems ranging from motion sickness to osteoporosis.

Although NASA suffered a setback with Columbia, the government should not snuff out the program and abandon scientific research in space. The experiments conducted have the potential to solve some of the problems we can't on Earth. In order to continue, the program must continue to be funded and feel less pressure to meet unrealistic deadlines.

Plans are being developed for robotic missions to the moon in 2008 and to Mars in 2011. Between 2015 and 2020, NASA plans to launch a "Crew Exploration Vehicle" that would take astronauts back to the moon and later Mars. But, although NASA engineers are already developing concepts for lunar bases on the moon, Mars remains "a far-off dream," according to outgoing NASA chief Sean O'Keefe.

With countries such as Japan, India and China showing an increasing interest in space exploration, the pressure on the United States to keep up with the competition has steadily begun to rise.

As America continues to look to the space program in its quest for exploration and research, we can only begin to imagine the possibilities the universe may hold.