GOVER NMENT & POL ICY INSIGHTS
NASA Celebrates 50 Years Space agency should focus more on ROBOTIC MISSIONS, less on human ones SUSAN R. MORRISSEY, C&EN WASHINGTON
WHEN THE National Aeronautics & Space Administration was established in 1958, people likely had little idea that during the next five decades, the new agency would successfully send satellites into orbit, men to the moon, and probes deep into space. After spending many billions of dollars on developing new technology, the agency has done just that, and it continues to explore the universe. NASA’s plans to push forward with bold space exploration missions, however, have been hampered in recent years by limited funds. Its current goal of setting up a manned lunar outpost before targeting a human mission to Mars is in limbo because of belowprojection budget increases. The dearth of funding has raised
As NASA continued to evolve, it moved away from lunar sorties in the 1970s. It entered a new era of human space flight in 1981 when it launched the space shuttle—a new, reusable, winged spacecraft—into Earth’s lower orbit. Americans were again captivated by this giant airplanelike spacecraft. THE EXCITEMENT of the American space program has been tem-
NASA/JPL-CALTECH
NASA
pered by tragedy, however. On Jan. 27, 1967, during the early days of the Apollo program, three astronauts perished when a fire broke out in the command module they were locked in during a preflight test. Almost 20 years later, on Jan. 28, 1986, seven astronauts were killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff. And most recently, on Feb. 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry, killing seven more people. But as space travel became a regular occurrence—there have been more than 120 shuttle flights—NASA’s ability to captivate and inspire seems to have disappeared. In fact, prior to the Challenger explosion, shuttle missions were launched with little to no fanfare. President George W. Bush created some renewed excitement for human space travel when he rolled out his space exploration plan in 2004. The plan included a directive for NASA to develop new spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, the moon, and eventually Mars. NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin referred to this new plan as “Apollo on steroids.” many questions about NASA’s future, including NASA captivated To NASA’s dismay, the funding to make this happen never whether it would be more cost-effective and equal- the imaginations of young and materialized, prompting former NASA official Wesley T. ly informative to move away from human space old alike when it Huntress Jr. to call the new plan “Apollo on food stamps.” exploration and focus on robotic missions. I think sent astronauts, Add to this lack of funding the fact that each shuttle misit is a strategy well worth considering. including Aldrin sion costs nearly $500 million, according to NASA, and it For some, however, such a strategy amounts (left), to the moon to blasphemy. After all, not only has NASA’s huand rovers to Mars. becomes easier to understand why some observers question the need to continue sending humans into space. After all, man exploration program inspired a generation of NASA’s robotic missions, which have been ongoing since the scientists and engineers, but its work has also led agency’s inception and cost much less than human missions, seem to numerous spin-off products that benefit society. These include to be where the excitement is these days. water filtration systems, biomedically useful polymers, and enviTake, for instance, the Mars rovers—Spirit and Opportunity. The ronmentally safe lubricants. pair landed on the martian surface in 2004. The rovers have sent NASA came into being at a pivotal time in history. The Soviet back countless images and data about the red planet. Not to menUnion launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957, and fears tion the fact that they were designed to roam for three months but grew among Americans about our lack of space presence. In part as a have been sending back data for more than four years. The cost for response to this launch, the agency was established one year later. all this is reportedly less than that of two shuttle missions. Charged with pioneering space exploration, scientific discovery, Perhaps NASA should take this milestone anniversary to think and aeronautics research, NASA got its biggest challenge a few seriously about its future direction and fully embrace robotic techyears later when President John F. Kennedy directed the agency to nology to recapture the nation’s imagination. send an astronaut to the moon by the end of the 1960s. Thus began the Apollo lunar program. Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Jr. became necessarily those of ACS. the first people to walk on the moon, thereby meeting Kennedy’s challenge. The Apollo program continued for several years, with 10 more astronauts visiting the lunar surface. Americans were hooked Discover spin-off products developed from MORE ONLINE on space, and many a youngster aspired to be an astronaut. space exploration at www.cen-online.org. WWW.C E N- ONLI NE .ORG
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