In 2007, NASA -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- received federal funding in the amount of just under $17 billion. You read that right: $17,000,000,000.00. Comfortable, yes? Not in the space exploration industry, but still, we're talking $17 billion.Part of NASA's current plans include a mission to Mars. Manned. That is, a 5 year round trip (plus 18 month stint there) for x number of human beings. Lots of people are behind the idea, including the MMS, or Michigan Mars Society (at the University of Michigan), who kindly provided financial justification for such a trip on their website. Check out http://chapters.marssociety.org/usa/mi/politics/funding.html. According to the MMS, the "total cost of a human Mars mission is $25-55 billion dollars over a ten year period," which is "much less than the $80 billion we spent going to the Moon." (We spent 80 BILLION DOLLARS to go to the MOON?! I'm not yet 30, mind you, and didn't live through the Apollo missions or enjoy their ho-hum-wow factor, but we spent $80 BILLION DOLLARS for...WHAT?) They continue: "At $3-6 billion per year...that number is only 1%-2% of the US defense budget or only .2%-.4% of the total federal budget." Whew. I thought we were going to be spending a lot! But here's the kicker: "For less than a half a penny of every dollar you pay in taxes, we can put human beings on Mars." Oh, AWESOME! So, let's say, just because it's a number, we in our household pay $3,000.00 yearly in federal taxes. A few quick calculations (at half of one cent, because "less than" doesn't mean much to me) and...our young four-person family shells out about $15.00 a year...to put people on Mars.
$15.00 a year isn't much, right? At least, according to the MMS, it isn't much. And it's completely worth it, right? According to the NASA Advisory Council, TOTALLY! Why would I, Jane Schmoe American, want to keep that $15.00 to use on, say, baby diapers, when I could be helping to send John Doe American to MARS? I mean, imagine the far-reaching effect a mission to Mars would have on MY LIFE! It...it...well...it WOULD impact MY life, wouldn't it? Even a little? Hm. Of course, the NASA Advisory Council thinks the idea is brilliant. And do you know who is ON the NASA AC? James Cameron! (Who is James Cameron, you ask? The director of Titanic Terminator 2, Aliens, and The Abyss, writer of most of the same, and 3-time Academy Award winner for some of the same, to name a few of his more popular films.) Oh, gee! James Cameron! All his astounding interplanetary knowledge! Offering just a tad of slack, he DID major in physics...but then began a truck-driving career post-schooling to fund his screenwriting dreams. So, back to the sarcasm about his vast wealth of Martian understanding. People, his being on the Advisory Council causes me to want to rule against ANYTHING NASA presents, just by virtue of his involvement in and irrelevance to space exploration.
What, I ask you, do they expect to find on Mars to make a 6 1/2 year trip WORTH my $15.00 yearly? An opportunity for colonization? Alien life? Uh...you know, I can't even think of anything else they might find to make such a trip worth it, and chances are, they won't find either of the two of which I did manage to think. Even if they DID find alien life, we're talking microorganisms here, which, no matter how well-encased, have the potential to end life on Earth. And colonization? It's a well-established fact that that would be an absolute impossibility based on the conditions there.
Then there are issues to sift through for the astronauts and their families: who goes, and do they have families left behind on Earth (spouse, children) that they're effectively abandoning for 6 years in the name of science (while on board a ship with a mixed-gender crew who are expected BY NASA to at some point copulate), and how do they keep fit and sane and healthy on their journey, and what happens if and when the ship or the landing or the equipment encounters problems and we find that the entire crew died a meaningless and pointless death? When is "in the name of science" no longer an acceptable excuse? Does NASA, then, approve of families being separated and spouses potentially committing adultery thanks to six years in close proximity with the opposite (or same) sex? Do they condone sending human beings on a generally pointless mission with the understanding that these people could lose their sanity, die, or both? All for...what?
It's not as though our astronauts are Columbus anymore; in fact, I'd feel better if they DID stick to our planet. We have hundreds of thousands of miles of ocean as-yet unexplored, and that which could be most beneficial to us as a race undoubtedly lies in our oceans rather than in our atmosphere. My $15.00 each year would be better spent investigating our oceans...or helping to prevent our polar ice caps increase our oceans' size. At the rate we're destroying our Earth, astronauts could leave on a mission to Mars and return to an uninhabitable planet. I can't complain about prior space exploration, though...the Moon landing was not only for the sake of exploring our universe, but for the sake of American morale and to prove our technological superiority to our Cold War enemies.
But those enemies are (generally) allies now...our universe is largely a realm of head-scratching novelty to our race...and our morale as a people could not be much lower, but would not be bolstered by humans on Mars.
And let's face it. Ever seen Everest, the IMAX film? Neat, novel, I'd give it 3 of 5 stars for its scope, grandeur, and documentary reporting...but only 3, because I was generally pissed off by the people being followed up Everest. Why? At one point during the film, the climbers reveal their sadness at the death of a close friend, who had died recently on Everest's slopes, leaving behind a wife and children, all for...what? That question is never answered. All for what? All for SELFISHNESS. The individual who died, not to tarnish his memory, had ALREADY climbed Everest, ALREADY made the summit, and died during a successive trip. WHY? WHY, I ASK YOU? Pure, unadulterated selfishness.
The correlation: we, too, would be heading toward Mars on a mission of that same selfishness. We want to see. We want to visit, to explore, to succeed. No matter the cost, whether the cost is monetary, or other, more important "costs" are associated with it. Is investigation -- no, curiosity! -- worth such costs? Will it EVER be?
The time for exploration is not necessarily ended -- don't mistake me -- but should be indefinitely suspended until which time as we can be certain that there will be a living, peaceful, functioning Earth to which our astronauts can (potentially) return.
So, what's our solution? First, come to understand what NASA DOES do for us that IS worthwhile. You'll feel better about your tax dollars. Check it out here: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/index.html Then express to NASA your desire that they focus on those positives and (at least temporarily!) abandon any plans for a Mars mission here: public-inquiries@hq.nasa.gov They respond in 10-15 business days. Be sure to put your subject in the subject line and do NOT include attachments. Or, fill out their online communication form, here: http://www.nasa.gov/about/contact/ask_nasa_form.html Finally, email your senators, house reps, (contact info for your state is easily found via Google,) and then write to the Office of Management and Budget for the White House to request that funding for NASA intended for use on a Mars mission be denied, and instead redirected to the project of your choice (I chose global warming)...or, if you wish, that funding for NASA be altogether reduced. (I asked only the former.) Also, I would suggest FAXING your letter to the OMB, as they are still experiencing a major delay in receiving mail since, believe it or not, Sept. 11, 2001. Their fax number is 202-395-3888. We may not be able to prevent a Mars mission (or the outrageous cost of the R&D to get there), but as Jane Schmoe American, I'm doing my part to make my opinion known.
Okay, you got it. Problem solved.
Mommy
