Moon (again) & Mars - our destiny

The above picture is my favorite scenic photograph of all time - it's the very first time that humans took a picture of the Earth as they swung around the dark side of the moon on the Apollo 8 spacecraft in December 1968. This image gave birth to a new term - Earthrise.

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I'm totally enthralled with our space program and space travel. You think I like sports and politics? NASA has 'em all beat by a factor of 10. Just ask my mom. Normally pretty strict when it came to staying home from school, she let me skip school to watch the the early shuttle launches, when the public actually cared and they were televised on network television.

After On April 12, 1981, when Columbia roared into orbit with John Young and Robert Crippen aboard, I was glued to the set. It was a sight I will never forget. I remember our school brought us all into the auditorium to see the first landing, so I didn't miss that, either.

Back to my thoughts on Apollo for a second. Out of pure admitted greed, I want to see images like the one above from Apollo 8 for myself, during the Internet age, when we go back to the Moon. Why am I even discussing this? Because NASA and its future are in the news, with the latest round of proposed budget cuts being debated in Congress.

Happily, the House recently voted to maintain NASA's funding for the president's proposed mission to Mars, protecting the space agency's $16.9 billion in funding for the program, for now. It's never far from the budget ax, however. I'm with Republicans on this one. Yes, you read that right - the GOP is on the right side of this issue, and I ain't shy about saying it.

However, (surprise!) I'm not a total Bush cheerleader on this, though. He proposed this bold new program with little or any explanation on how it will be paid for. Nevertheless, I give him credit for getting the space program moving again in the area of space exploration in the vein of Apollo, instead of space exploitation, which is the function of the shuttles and the Internatioal Space Station.

Democrat Barney Frank, a man I normally always agree with, has this one wrong, calling the proposed missions to the Moon and Mars a waste of taxpayer money. You couldn't be more wrong, Barney.

Imagine if Columbus never sailed again after discovering the New World? That's the exact parallel here - it's an absurdity that it's been nearly 34 years since humans last walked on the Moon. More on that later.

Another reason I support Bush's plans - they call for the permanent grounding of the shuttle fleet (or what's left of it - only three remain from the original five orbiters: Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavor) by 2010. The fleet is aging and has many problems, and to be honest, every time one goes up, I hold my breath.

Discovery roars into orbit on July 4, 2006, the first-ever Independence Day launch of the shuttle program. I was delighted when the crew made it to orbit safely and that a subsequent inspection of the shuttle revealed no danger to the astronauts in returning to Earth, but some unfortunate events have taught us to take nothing for granted until the crew is back on the ground and out of harm's way.



Challenger lifting off for the last time on January 28, 1986. We all remember what happened 73 seconds later - I was in 10th grade, and I'll never forget walking into German class and hearing the news. We were all too shocked to even say much - TVs were in every classroom and we watched the news coverage in stunned silence.

Above is Columbia's tragic last liftoff on January 16, 2003. It broke up over the southern U.S. when trying to reenter the atmosphere on February 1, 2003, killing everyone inside. The cause of the tragedy was a large chunk of foam from the external tank striking a wing of the orbiter during liftoff. When the crew tried to reenter the atmosphere, the wing was breached and the orbiter was destroyed.

Loss of life is part of exploration, and the space program is no exception. It's just that each loss of life is in front of hundreds of millions of people, and we mourn our heroes.

I think it's great that we have a permanent space station orbiting Earth, the International Space Station, but it's time to move on. And, considering the money it's cost us (in excess of $100 billion), we could already be headed to the moon. Based on what I've read, the broad consensus is that the station has little scientific value when you do a cost-benefit analysis.

However, I'm writing this to look ahead, not behind. I can't wait for the next phase of our space program, which, over the next decade, will get us back to where we belong, exploring the Moon and eventually, Mars. Click Here to see pictures of the proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle, the next generation of American spacecraft which will carry us to the Moon and beyond. With the political will, public support, and most importantly, Congressional funding, before 2020, we'll get to see more images like the ones below. ...



I love this picture - it's from the Apollo 17 mission. Harrison Schmitt, to date the only geologist to walk on the Moon, with the Earth in the background. This picture is simply breathtaking.

Eugene Cernan & Schmitt in the lunar module after their EVA on the Moon. Cernan is the last human to walk on the Moon. With the new goals for the space program proposed by President Bush, he won't be the last. Along with John Young, Cernan is my favorite astronaut, because he's the last human to walk on the Moon, and also because he used to offer analysis during broadcast coverage of early Space Shuttle flights.



This is another one of my favorite pictures of all time, too - taken by an Apollo astrounaut on the way back to Earth. What a breathtaking and beautiful sight. I can't wait to see it from astronauts returning from Mars.