SPACE SHUTTLE: END OF AN ERA

 

            With the retirement of the Shuttle Program in 2011 after 30 years of operations, we say goodbye to an era of excitement and wonder that made space exploration part of the household lexicon in the US.

            With it, a whole bevy of ideas and innovations saw the light of day and were put to work for the benefit of us landlubbers. Ideas like low cost lightning detectors, the “special effects” that you see in your neighborhood Cineplex,(created by NASA for the Space Shuttle), Knee braces that use principles derived from the Shuttle propulsion systems as well as processes to make landmine detonation safe and effective by using scrap propellants from the solid rocket fuel used in them.

            That it was a very expensive program, there is no doubt. But perhaps, the powers that be should have been more concerned with the exploration and the prestige derived by that exploration as tangible benefits from this program. The sad part is that now we found ourselves reduced to hitching rides from the Russians to the International Space Station, thus relinquishing our hegemony on space exploration with its subsequent reduction in our prestige at home and abroad.

            There is no program in the pipeline to replace the Shuttle in the foreseeable future. I shudder to think what that means for the US as a space faring nation. Are we to abandon space exploration? Are we to let go of the wonders of space? Are we to forfeit the vast riches awaiting the brave and the bold in the Asteroid belt?

            We need leaders with vision, with boldness and the desire to commit the nation to space again, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, and the rewards expecting us “out there” are commensurate with the effort devoted to reach them.