Space, Motherfucker!

I was addicted to OMNI magazine when I was a kid. Journalistic warts aside, it was a wonderful magazine that sparked my imagination like no other. One issue in particular stands out in my mind. It talked about a possible mission to Mars. I don’t remember all of the details, but the article made the point that the US space program had faltered after the moon missions ended, and that if we didn’t get our shit together the Soviets would eventually catch up with us and have moon bases and Martian colonies. Or something like that.

The reason I remember that particular article is because of how much it frustrated me. At age 12 – when I read this article – I was fascinated by space, the idea of going to space, and all things involving space, robots, technology, robots, and space. Space space space. And this article was saying, in 1985, that if Congress had stayed on track with funding for the space program in the 1970s, NASA would have been on track for a Mars mission by 1986!

All that my 12 year old brain could think was: “SO WHY THE HELL AREN’T WE DOING THAT???”

Even now, as an adult, with full knowledge that we spent a lot of our money on winning the Cold War instead of going into space, it is hard for me to accept. It wasn’t fun living with MAD hanging over our heads, but sometimes it is abundantly clear that the Cold War cost us a lot more than stress and political inconvenience.

Let’s recap space policy since I was twelve years old:

Liberal deniers aside, Reagan spent our way out of the Cold War, so I’ll give him a pass. I don’t remember space being a top priority for Bush 41, so fuck him. Clinton did approximately jack shit with regard to the space program as I recall. BUT he did get a beej in the oral office, so… naw, fuck him too. And Bush 43 waved his hands and tried to get some attention for space projects, but I have a feeling that was only to get people to forget about gems like “they hate us for our freedom”. (That dude could have announced a cure for cancer or AIDS and no one would have been listening.) Do I even need to say “fuck him” about that guy?

So here we are with President Obama. And what’s this? The biggest economic crisis in generations? Record unemployment? And giant megacorps are faltering because of the stupid shit they’ve been pulling, and they need a bailout? Oh, and the Earth is dying too? And it can’t support our growing population?

JANE! GET ME OFF THIS CRAZY THING!

I was listening to Marketplace yesterday and they made the point that the auto companies need an economic recovery, not a bailout. Right now we’re just throwing cash at these companies but if the economy isn’t better in a year or two they are just going to fail anyway.

People are looking for ways the government can stimulate the economy. Fixing infrastructure and shifting to green energy are the big items on the agenda. And that’s great. But in the grand scheme of things, and in terms of the history and future of our nation, those are very short-term items. Why not focus on the one thing that will solve a bunch of this shit at once, in a serious way and for generations to come? Why can’t we have a serious space program again? Why not make space exploration – and colonization – the centerpiece of this recovery?