PatriciaDianne

The economic engine of the United States and U. S. prestige in the world of science and technology are dependent on the continued prioritization of NASA and the Space Program. Further, the trade-off of NASA programs at the expense of public education is a false choice.


My understanding of the Obama position as represented in the press is that NASA and the Space Program will be downsized or reprioritized downward in favor of increasing the funding for public education. This is counter intuitive. If our goal is to increase the emphasis, excitement and motivation of our students to pursue grand visions, especially in the areas of technology and science, what message does it send if we put the most complex and sophisticated technological and scientific achievement in history on the back burner as the price to be paid for improving education!

Consider the power and force of the "Space Race" of the past. It sparked the forward momentum that arguably drove the whole computer-information-digital paradigm shift that is responsible for the most significant advances in our life styles and in our economy in the last fifty years. How many times have you heard the phrase, “If we can put a man on the moon we can _______” fill in the blank? Do we really want to be the generation that tells our children the day of our ability and competence to put a man on the moon is past and it is not possible for the current generation? Do we really want to regress in scientific and technological progress after we have gone so far?


In your role as a visionary leader, I challenge you to adopt a Kennedy-like position inspiring the country to a grand visionary plan, continuing one of the most powerful of human instincts: pushing the envelop, exploring, searching for what is just over the horizon. Not to be melodramatic, but this instinct lead to the march of the Europeans, then the pioneers, pushing westward and founding this most successful of human social and political experiments: the United States of America. It did not come without tremendous cost in blood and treasure, but who can deny that without these sacrifices the state of the world as we know it would not have benefitted from the genius of this fantastic experiment in liberty and freedom? The United States of America and the adventurous spirit that created it continuously serves to keep it at the forefront of scientific innovation while benefiting the rest of the world from its scientific and technological successes. The melting pot that is the United States of America uniquely draws upon the talents of all races, all nationalities, all human beings, male and female. Betting on the unknown, trusting in the power of the human spirit, these basic and most evolutionary advantageous instincts make humans different from other animals. From antiquity to the present day, humanity is wired to reach for the stars.


I search for a good metaphor, a parallel to the dangerous folly of pressing the pause button, pausing our push toward Space. Consider the world of medical scientific breakthroughs. Would it make sense to propose that we stop government support into research for finding a cure for AIDS, cancer, or other significant medical challenges, using the justification that these researchers can find other lines of work for an undefined number of years until we fund public education in a noble attempt to bring up a generation of scientists to find medical cures? What of the ongoing projects that would stop dead in their tracts? What of the waste of human capitol and financial resources as the best and brightest in their fields stop their efforts and turn to other disciplines, leaving them stifled and without forward progress in their chosen fields and with no guarantee they will return to the medical field when our government decides to reprioritize medical research? Would this not devastate progress in one of the most noble scientific endeavors, the life saving progress toward the elimination of human suffering? Would the world wait on us? Would we loose our competitive advantages in this field? Would companies and whole industries take their jobs and resources to other countries to pursue their goals? How tragic and shortsighted this would be for our medical industry! How counter intuitive to "kill the goose that laid the golden egg."


To use another example, what of the technological push now under way for scientific breakthroughs in the area of solving the energy crisis, breaking the chains of our dependence on fossil fuels, and developing environmentally safe energy solutions? Would it make any sense to send the message to our people and the world that we will put on hold prioritization of this research and development? How could logic support the concept of taking all the resources now devoted to this problem and press the pause button to focus on public education? How many scientists would go into other areas? How far behind would our corporations and research facilities be in comparison to other countries who are going full steam ahead in the direction of being the first to develop innovation that will surely be one of the most financially successful industries of our time?

And what country in the world now completely owns an industry, is the undisputed leader in this industry, has imagined and engineered the most complex and technologically sophisticated achievements of mankind? The country is the United States of America and the industry is Space and the engine driving this most awesome and majestic endeavor is NASA. Where would the scientists, in some cases the only scientists in the world with the knowledge required to keep this program moving forward, go if we push the pause button on the Space Program? What industry would they go to? And what of the other commercial industry players, the contractors that support the Space Program and who depend on it to keep their research and development going? Would they go into other fields losing invaluable talent that could take decades to reclaim? Would they go to other countries using their genius and talent for giving the advantage in Space technologies and exploration to other countries in their race for Space? Would the United States of America descend into the technological Dark Ages, losing valuable talent and stunting growth indefinitely, retreating into the technological monasteries of the past, resulting from a lack of imagination and foresight?


How can you justify sending the message to our talented youth that exploration is not as important as it used to be? Do we send the message that our day of leadership in Space was a passing aberration? Can we justify our admittedly inexcusable lack of priority for education by compounding the problem through stifling and stunting the most exciting, innovative endeavors of the human experience? Again, completely counter intuitive.


What are some cultural clues to how important the concepts of the Space Program are to our youth? Just go into any bookstore and look at the science fiction section. Flip the channels on your cable television. Look at the video games that intrigue and enchant the young. Over and over you will see their natural inclination to Space, using their imaginations to technologically discover new and challenging virtual worlds. Does this not prove that if we can capture the imagination and natural drive of the youth to go to the next level, climb the next mountain, reach out into the unknown, we can unleash the power of the intellect of a whole generation? And again, what is the most profound and imaginative vehicle to carry these adventurous, creative instincts forward? Space.

I completely agree that education should be one of the highest priorities of our country, both in resources devoted by government, the private sector and by the power of the President, using the bully pulpit, to inspire individuals, both parents and children alike, to embrace a culture of learning. Nevertheless, it should not be assumed that we must improve education at the expense of our nation’s highest technological achievements.


I challenge Senator Obama to be wise enough to revisit his position. I implore him to take stock of the cost in time, resources and momentum that would result in slowing, short-changing or stopping the Space Program. I challenge Senator Obama to use his visionary abilities and unparalled skills in inspiring people, young and old alike, to reach for the stars as a metaphor for social and economic change. I challenge him to seize the opportunity to lead our youth in the most amazing adventure of mankind: "To go where no man has gone before."

It is very unusual for a politician to revisit a position taken on a key issue in the middle of a campaign. I can imagine the politician would risk the possibility of being called a "flip flopper" or indecisive. However, we know that stubbornness is not a positive quality in a leader and that people who refuse to change their minds when presented with new information are dangerous.

I challenge Senator Obama to revisit this issue and to realize and articulate that the greatest nation that has ever existed on the planet Earth can at once meet the challenges of public education and continue our leadership in the exploration of the next great step for mankind: reaching for the stars.

Kennedy inspired a generation by prioritizing the greatest technological and scientific accomplishment in the history of mankind: putting a man on the moon. In the process the United States of America brought into existence one of the only models of successful international cooperation: the Space Program through the International Space Station, headed by NASA. The Kennedy / Johnson administrations proved that prioritizing programs benefiting the disenfranchised and those who have not realized the advantages and prosperity available in our country are not in conflict with aggressive Space exploration. They are surely not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, leadership in science and technology funds the ability of our nation to be a generous nation. Indeed they should be integrated and intertwined in a visionary return to the culture that values basic scientific research, the power of the nation's brain trust and the energy and imagination of the next generation in mapping out new and innovative solutions to the problems and challenges of the 21st century.

Senator Obama, (or for that matter, anyone who would dare have the audacity to lead this great country,) I challenge you to take the mantle of change not only into the important realm of education reform, but to the next level. Our country cannot indulge in the luxury of education for education’s sake alone. As a country, we must support the application of education to the problems and challenges of the future. This surely is the logical purpose and end point of public education. And what are the highest intellectual applications of genius, talent and energy for these newly and more highly educated students? Surely one powerful and noble application is a journey into one of the greatest adventures mankind has ever undertaken: the Space Program powered by the irreplaceable genius that is NASA, arguably, the repository of some of the most dedicated, brilliant, and innovative minds on the planet. The President who inspires and rekindles the pioneer spirit of our past, and brings that spirit into the brilliant possibilities of our future, will have his or her name indelibly etched in the history of our great nation as the first leader of the 21st century to lead the way to continued greatness for our country on our journey to the stars.


I am not active in any political party. I have not decided for whom I will vote. I am not affiliated with NASA, any aspect of the Space Program or any industry that is part of the Space Program. I am merely a concerned citizen.

Patricia Shavers
Huntsville, AL

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Eli Cash

First, for disagreeing with Obama's position you seem to be borrowing pretty heavily from his verbiage as a writer in including the word "audacity" in your title, just as he did in a book of his. Is this intentional in an attempt to satirize? The rest of your letter isn't written in a satirical style, so I think that if that was your intention it didn't come off. I'd omit the word from your title.

I'll refrain from other comment, because I very much disagree with your premise and might have a hard time separating it from how you expressed it. NASA seems like a huge fucking waste of money, to this uneducated observer.

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Just Jim

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