The State of the Space Program Then and Now

Filed in archive Aviation News on August 8, 2005

On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped on the surface of the moon and said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Today, August 3, 2005, astronaut Scott Robinson removed a loose piece of filler from the belly of the space shuttle and said, "The patient is cured."

Both were historic events. Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon. Robinson, the first to do a space walk to the underbelly of a shuttle aircraft. The courage of both men is to be heralded.



Nevertheless, I think those two statements pretty well sum up the state of our space program then and now. In the sixties, the program had purpose. We were on a quest to go where "no one had gone before." Now, NASA is sick and in need of a cure. Privatization is one answer. What do you think?

Ultimately, lack of vision is the culprit. In the sixties, President Kennedy outlined it clearly, to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. What is the vision today? If there is one, it's obscured by falling foam and protruding gap filler. The focus is no longer on the conquest of space, but the improvision of a hacksaw held together with duct tape!