Columbia is proof NASA needs more funding
COMMENTARY
Patrick Jennings

When people first heard of the Columbia disaster, I’m sure they felt sorrow for those lost and sympathy for their families. I felt that, but soon after I was also concerned about the long-term consequences of the tragedy.

I love the space program. I grew up not too far from Cape Canaveral and could see the shuttle launch from my front lawn. I have yet to see anything quite as awe-inspiring as a night liftoff of a shuttle. The sky lights up and you see a large star streak toward the heavens. I’ve stood there in amazement that man can build something so powerful.

I fear that this could be the end of manned space flight for a long time. NASA had to cut funding for the next generation of launch vehicles due to budget overruns on the International Space Station. The shuttles are all aging and becoming more costly to maintain and launch.

I have no doubts that NASA can find and fix the problem that caused the shuttle to disintegrate over our heads. I, however, worry about whether this will become a public relations nightmare. NASA could be painted as a bureaucracy with obsolete equipment that’s putting lives in danger every time the countdown reaches zero. If the voters turn against the space program, their representatives will follow. The shuttle Atlantis will become a lawn ornament in the Kennedy Space Center’s rocket garden beside redstones and the Saturn V.

Some of you may say “So what?” I can’t really blame you. You see billions of tax dollars flying into the program and can’t see what’s coming out of it. It’s OK; science usually isn’t very accommodating to short-term goals. Every time the space shuttle goes into orbit, we discover something new. It might be something that seems dumb like the crystallization of substances in zero gravity. This doesn’t concern you now. What does concern you is the medicine made from that research.

There are plenty of other things, but the basic message is that knowledge is not entirely useless. What we learn from space missions is as important as anything learned in a research lab on the ground. We risk losing one of the most incredible devices of discovery ever conceived.

I’ll admit, I have a personal investment in NASA’s success. I have friends with parents that work for NASA in many capacities. My father teaches at a university founded for NASA scientists to get their advanced degrees. He also does research there over the summer. I worry about the livelihoods of the people I grew up around. The 32-month hiatus after the Challenger disaster put a lot of people out of a job and loaded up a lot of moving vans.

I can only hope that this becomes a rallying point for those who insist that NASA needs more funding. I hope that the shuttles can then be replaced by a safer, cheaper alternative. I hope that the seven people who lost their lives will be tempered by thousands whose lives are saved by space research.

And most of all, I hope to watch man take a step on Mars as humanity continues to reach for the stars.

Patrick Jennings is a freshman economics major from Melbourne, Fla. He can be reached at (p.a.jennings@tcu.edu).