Manned Missions To Mars And Moon Should Be International

A new administrator for NASA seems to be in the works.

Retired Marine Corps Major General Charles Bolden will be meeting with President Obama today to discuss the post.

General Bolden has flown on the space shuttle four times.

Here is astronaut Bolden’s NASA profile. Above you see his picture.

NASA has plans to go back to the moon and to go to Mars.

I oppose these plans because I feel it costs too much money and because I don’t see any clear reason to send people back to the moon and to Mars.

It could be that the manned space program is at core a giant government jobs program. Okay. I do support government jobs programs.

Yet is it sure will cost a lot of money to send people back to the moon and to Mars. I think that money could be better spent on Earth.

My hope is that if these missions are going to be conducted in any event, that they be as international as possible.

The costs should be spilt between nations and the missions should be flown by an international crew. In fact, there is no reason that an American would have to command these missions or would have to be the first one to take a step on Mars.

I suppose Florida has too many electoral votes for President Obama to go after one of its leading industries. And Democrats have hope of winning Texas some day. The Johnson Space Center is in Texas.

I’m certain NASA has contractors all over the country who are eager for new and expensive missions to the moon, Mars and to the center of the galaxy if that were possible.   

Fine.

Still, we can move past a global space race and move towards cooperation. The advance of peaceful global cooperation would give taxpayers around the globe a more certain return on their money than the nationalistic pursuit of glory for no clear purpose other than that of national glory.