This week marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of NASA. During that time, NASA has had many successes: manned missions to the Moon, rovers landing on Mars, putting a space station in orbit, and sending probes to the outer reaches of the solar system and beyond. In addition, NASA has been the catalyst for myriad technologies that we take for granted everyday, such as weather forecasting, satellite communications, and GPS. NASA has had its share of hardships as well, including the loss of the Apollo 1 crew during a training mission and the losses of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia and their crews.
NASA is facing hardships of another kind as it turns 50: lack of funding, increased bureaucracy, and lack of public interest in the space program. Going into space is now a routine venture, and dropping astronauts off at the ISS is as common as dropping the kids off at school. There is no longer a sense of awe and adventure from the general public surrounding NASA missions; indeed many think NASA’s pinnacle came 40 years ago when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.
I choose to believe NASA’s best years are yet to come. A return trip to the Moon is already planned, and preliminary work is being done on an eventual manned mission to Mars. Although NASA doesn’t have an immediate replacement for the shuttle fleet that is due to be retired soon, private companies are stepping into the space flight arena with new solutions. Collaborating with these private companies and with other space-faring nations to meet the challenges of manned space flight can reignite the public’s interest in space and boost support and funding for NASA. And just maybe, in the next 50 years, man will set foot on a new world, Mars, and space will once again capture the imagination of the world.
