July
20th 2009
Posted under Culture & Science
Today, 20 July 09, marks the fortieth anniversary of the first moon landing. Be prepared for a lot of American triumphalism. While I agree with our friend Tom Piatak that those were better times and American triumphalism sure beats PC American self flagellation, it is important to remember that NASA was and still is an unconstitutional expenditure. Federal funding of space exploration for space exploration’s sake, or for the advancement of science, or just to say we beat the Russians, or whatever, is not constitutionally authorized. You could make the case that a space program that is intended for defensive purposes, such as SDI, is authorized, but otherwise NASA should be scrapped.
Chris Hewlett on 20 Jul 2009 at 2:21 pm #
As is abundantly clear now after forty years we come to the harsh realization that there is nothing out there (in space) within practical reach. No water, no breathable atmosphere, little gravity. Mars is two hundred below zero, Venus has a toxic atmoshpere and is two hundred above zero (if not more). Jupiter and Saturn are just balls of gas. The moon is nothing but dust with no air – one-sixth gravity. Unfortunately, human existence on Earth has hit its physical limits. Two to three hundred years ago when the North American continent was being opened up there was territory replete with air and water – only thing standing in the way were a few hundred thousand (or was it million?) aborigines. In ancient time the Greeks and Romans I think thought the world was flat and if they got to the edge they would fall off. However, the reality was that they never found that edge – the world stretched away in front of them no matter how far they traveled. We have a different perspective now. There is nothing else within practical reach. There is still vast open ground on this earth in far northern (and southern) climes – where it is -50 and dark in the winter. Everyplace else in the world is spoken for. So, you are right there is no reason to have NASA, but that is not a happy conclusion.
roho on 20 Jul 2009 at 3:14 pm #
Oh No!………………………Man has limits?
Marc on 20 Jul 2009 at 10:22 pm #
Well a lot of good inventions have come from the NASA program. Personally I think harping about NASA when there is so much more wrong is foolish. You’ll just get strange looks and ultimately hurt your goal.
D B Allyn on 21 Jul 2009 at 7:28 am #
“in space, nobody can hear you scream”
Lord Peter on 21 Jul 2009 at 11:49 am #
We the people of the Milky Way Galaxy, in order to establish One Cosmos Government . . . .
Weaver on 22 Jul 2009 at 8:40 am #
Yea Marc at least the money there isn’t being wasted unlike so much else. Research is at least rewarding.
Rather they forgot it was round.
David Roland on 09 Jun 2010 at 6:27 pm #
This comes from the lack of vision of today’s conservatives. Space exploration is a progressive endeavor. Chris, you are a great example of what would happen if we lived in a world controlled by today’s conservatives. No exploration of the final frontier, because it’s a “waste” or it’s “impossible”. Yeah well so was landing on the Moon. So was flying a plane. So was a computer revolution.
If you don’t have the vision and determination to make the impossible happen you won’t ever get anywhere, and mankind will forever be bound to it’s imaginary “limits”.
Last time I checked I thought one of the points of being human was striving to break the limits that bound us and prevent us from progressing.