NASA's FINAL DISCOVERY, launch!

Project Constellation to be cancelled! NASA to focus on Earth and cutting edge terrestrial science while farming out the space exploration to inventive entrepreneurs and companies more than willing to push the envelope.

Straight from the President’s office a new mandate for NASA to follow that will change NASA’s direction, if actually instituted. My question to any and all is, “weren’t they already doing that while still setting themselves up for the next level of space exploration?” We are in a space race against the Chinese and Russian’s and we are falling behind. With this new mandate we will drop out of the race altogether. Why you ask? Because while our government funded administration is restricted monetarily and kept land bound, other countries are still completing their missions to get to the moon again, first.

Regardless whether the U.N. stated that no 1 country could own the moon, how are they going to stop it? Earth based sanctions? China needs raw materials and the moon is a raw material just waiting to be mined.

NASA had decided to forego any further moon exploration and instead point its sights on Mars and beyond. If one thinks about it: that would give all the up and coming aeronautic companies the perfect environment to achieve the much coveted space tourism and 2^nd moon race. This would leave NASA and partners to work on getting to the next level. A large amount of experimental data gained through NASA’s different channels has already reached American companies and is being strategically used for the betterment of life on our planet. For a price, anyway.

Throughout American history the government /military has led the way in many scientific endeavors. Once they reach a certain point they begin to bring in outside entrepreneurs and visionaries to make the technology user friendly for multiple endeavors and industries. This is clearly happening in the aeronautics industry. With so much being shifted to private enterprise, NASA would have been able to leverage its resources to gain a foothold in extra stellar exploration. The amount of knowledge to be gained by proceeding with a Non-Privatized Constellation is astronomical.

For an example: When an astronaut receives an injury in space that breaks the skin, their blood does not clot nor do they heal. That only begins when they come back to earth. They do not know why this happens nor do they have a fix for it. So what would happen to the astronauts who head out to other planets? With no way to quickly return to earth, what would the long term affects be? Would landing on another planet start the healing process?Something so minor could turn deadly.

There is still soo much for us to learn and even in this time of extraordinarily high debt and cutbacks; do we as a nation want to stop any avenue of scientific exploration with such high return benefits and could in fact save the earth one day? As has been stated many times, the future is in our hands now and we must decide what our futures will become.

A greener planet? Fantastic! It will help make a better home for our children. Growing possibility of interstellar space travel and the discoveries that could be leveraged to make all of our lives better? Imagine telling your child who dreams of being Captain Jean Luc Piccard, "sorry honey we just don’t have enough money to keep your dreams alive right now. Have some patience, it'll happen in a few decades."

Then there’s Vandenberg, with its maneuverable Space Plane which has a 270 day continuous orbit capability. The Space Plane has made the shuttle obsolete with its orbit maneuverability. Recently, Its maneuverability allowed it to “disappear” from site with an unknown (read classified) payload. Also, let’s not forget that China had to shoot a LAZER and bring down one of its own satellites due to malfunction. Many in the stellar aeronautics industry believe that the next true space race is the weaponization of Earth’s outer atmosphere. But of course the U.N. stated that was never to happen during the Apollo missions and we all know how the U.N.'s decrees are followed.

Okay I will admit this Hub is biased, but as I see it, the future is out there waiting for us and the only way we are going to reach for it is to look at what we believe we want for the future of our species in general and what we are willing to give up to ensure that future is achieved.    A completely privatized aeronautics industry keeps more scientific discoveries out of the very hands and minds that could create new industries without having a premium cost set for the privilege.  The scientific discoveries that business building tycoons start in their garages and grow to create multinational conglomerates.  This sponsors diversity and holds fast to the American ideal while ensuring equality in the disbursements of new discoveries.

What do you want the future to hold for our people and planet?  Only you can decide and then let your elected officials know how you expect them to vote.    It’s your choice; please choose wisely for all our sakes.

I personally would like to thank NASA and all of its employees for their amazing achievements to date and I optimistically look forward to many more in the future.