Why NASA?
NASA’s future has never been more at risk as a growing number of people weigh the cost and risks of a manned space program against the benefits. This comes as no surprise – NASA has had to defend its existence since the moment Apollo 11 returned Neil Armstrong and his crew safely to Earth. It’s mission, however, remains as critical as ever – something most Americans don’t fully appreciate.
As a rule, NASA does not market technologies it invents – it is forbidden by law for a federal agency to yield a profit. Instead, these technologies are passed on to the community at large to be marketed by any company wishing to do so. The end result is that Boeing builds a faster jet, but its passengers never credit the NASA wind tunnels which made the design possible.
Rather than pointing out these connections, the scientific community has responded to NASA’s critics by showcasing “spin-offs” – technologies created for the space program which now find use in our daily lives. The trouble with this approach is that most of these direct technology transfers yield products most people will never see, much less use.
The benefits of a space program come not only from NASA’s original technologies but from the technologies it motivates with its unique objectives. NASA didn’t invent the personal computer, but in 1961 when President Kennedy launched our space program, a computer was the size of a house. It was NASA who contracted companies to fit a computer into a automobile-sized spacecraft, leading to the invention of the micro-processor, and the rest is history. NASA didn’t invent the satellite, but the same technologies which enable humans to fly into space enable satellites to be launched into orbit. Can you imagine modern life without cell-phones, televisions, the internet or dozens of other technologies requiring satellite links, to say nothing of the thousands of lives saved each year by weather satellites. The list of such technologies is endless, but the point is simple. Necessity is the mother of invention, and it is enterprises like NASA which supply the motivation for the technological wonders which shape the modern world.
To those of us in the scientific community, the importance of a manned space program is implicit – exploration is an innate expression of our curiosity. To do something just to prove you can is perhaps the most natural of human instincts, and historically, this motivation has opened the door to scientific revolutions. That NASA’s budget totals less than one percent of our nation’s total budget seems a bargain to scientists. To those requiring more tangible reasons to justify NASA’s existence, it turns out they are all around you.
As a rule, NASA does not market technologies it invents – it is forbidden by law for a federal agency to yield a profit. Instead, these technologies are passed on to the community at large to be marketed by any company wishing to do so. The end result is that Boeing builds a faster jet, but its passengers never credit the NASA wind tunnels which made the design possible.
Rather than pointing out these connections, the scientific community has responded to NASA’s critics by showcasing “spin-offs” – technologies created for the space program which now find use in our daily lives. The trouble with this approach is that most of these direct technology transfers yield products most people will never see, much less use.
The benefits of a space program come not only from NASA’s original technologies but from the technologies it motivates with its unique objectives. NASA didn’t invent the personal computer, but in 1961 when President Kennedy launched our space program, a computer was the size of a house. It was NASA who contracted companies to fit a computer into a automobile-sized spacecraft, leading to the invention of the micro-processor, and the rest is history. NASA didn’t invent the satellite, but the same technologies which enable humans to fly into space enable satellites to be launched into orbit. Can you imagine modern life without cell-phones, televisions, the internet or dozens of other technologies requiring satellite links, to say nothing of the thousands of lives saved each year by weather satellites. The list of such technologies is endless, but the point is simple. Necessity is the mother of invention, and it is enterprises like NASA which supply the motivation for the technological wonders which shape the modern world.
To those of us in the scientific community, the importance of a manned space program is implicit – exploration is an innate expression of our curiosity. To do something just to prove you can is perhaps the most natural of human instincts, and historically, this motivation has opened the door to scientific revolutions. That NASA’s budget totals less than one percent of our nation’s total budget seems a bargain to scientists. To those requiring more tangible reasons to justify NASA’s existence, it turns out they are all around you.
posted by Nicholas at 1:34 PM
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