The facts: NASA space shuttle Atlantis will leave Earth July 8th, marking the program’s final flight. The future of the program is currently unclear.
Our opinion: If the nation wishes to gain an edge on foreign competition in the sciences, the cut of the space shuttle program is a hypocritical backward step that goes against the national interest.
July 8th will mark the final note in NASA space shuttle history. Half a century ago, our space endeavor stood as a symbol of national pride and inspiration. Now space missions have become routine and NASA has failed to provide new milestones to spark the old nationalistic sentiment.
Although NASA may not have found alien life on Mars or a sustainable galactic planet, there is still a promising future for the space program. Ending this U.S. space shuttle series will only yield a backward step for America in global competition and thus, it is in the best interests of the nation to continue the space program.
President Barack Obama announced an initiative to train an additional 10,000 engineers during a speech on Monday, June 13. He also voiced that the STEM – science, technology, engineering, and math – subjects should be emphasized in education because this are the jobs of the future, and these are the jobs that are in jeopardy due to foreign competitors.
Astronauts and aircraft designers were once the heroes of future students. Young children aspired to be astronauts and it was space that fascinated the minds of the youth. Space held prospects of discovery and innovation that surpassed Earth’s bounds.
If the president truly desires more children to pursue the STEM subjects and compete with China, India and other competitors for jobs, he should take a moment to realize that the future engineers of America need a point of inspiration. NASA and the space shuttle program provided this in the past and will again, if given another chance.
One of the main reasons for Obama’s 10,000 engineers speech was because of the growing concern of jobs going to other countries. With the end of the space shuttle program, American astronauts will have no other option but to tag along on Russian space shuttles.
Some supporters of the motion say that NASA may now have the money for more university grants for aeronautic research. However, new graduates in the aerospace field will not be able to experiment in space without special permission from the Russians. Students will be unlikely to research innovations that may never make it past the hypothetical which is detrimental to our nation.
The decision to end NASA’s space program goes against the president’s words and the national interest. If the American government wishes to gain a competitive edge in the global job market and enhance scientific education, the end of the space shuttle is disappointing and hypocritical.
