With the state of the economy and already balloning deficits lawmakers, including the Obama Administration are searching for ways to cut spending. While this in itself is not a bad idea, I think our government should be very careful where they decide to cut corners. Why not just stop wasting hundreds of billions of dollars a month in the middle-east?? As always, we seem to be able to invest in anything that is not our own country or people.
And now even the Obama Administration is proposing cuts to the budget of NASA. To me, this is a very bad idea on more than one front. In the preceding decades, one of the most important agencies our nation has is NASA. Just think of all the breakthroughs in knowledge and technology brought aboout by NASA and the space program.
Not only does NASA and it's programs bring breakthoughs in scientific knowledge, they create high-paying, skilled union jobs. These are folks that are dedicated to advancing our knowledge in many fields, and are very good at doing so. Some of them are represented in the Trasporation Workers Union Local 525, and were essential in the Endeavor mission, which is nearing an end:
The Florida sky was lit in a surreal glow early Monday morning as NASA's space shuttle Endeavor blasted into the sky at 4:14 a.m. TWU Local 525 members were an integral part of sending Endeavour to space and ensuring safe pre and post-launch conditions here on Earth. They represent the ground crew at Kennedy and Cape Canaveral space centers.
Clouds forced a delay for the shuttle's lift off early on Saturday morning, but clear skies made this morning's launch successful, and a beautiful sight for the thousands of spectators who gathered at Kennedy Space Center for the occasion. Endeavour is the first of the last five shuttles to launch before NASA retires the almost 30-year-old orbiter fleet to make way for future spacecraft.
They are very worried about the spending cuts to NASA's "Constellation" program, which could yield even more breakthroughs in scientific and technological knowledge by the folks who do it best, not private industry:
Obama's proposed budget for NASA announced last week has drawn both criticism and praise from space industry experts and the media. If passed by Congress, the budget will cut funds for NASA's Constellation program, to return to the moon by 2020, and make other drastic changes to United States space travel. Instead of choosing destinations in space and then developing the technology to carry out those missions, technology would be developed before destinations are chosen. NASA would need to rely on private companies to develop the technology and spacecraft that would send American astronauts into low earth orbit.
Now, what Astronaut is going to want to orbit the earth in a craft designed and built by a Corporation that was wanting to pinch pennies and do everything as cheap as possible to insure maximum profits?? Like healthcare, real space exploration can only be safely achieved by a agency such as NASA, who puts safety and planning above all else, even profit.
The good folks from TWU Local 525 can tell you much better than me why their highly-skilled, middle-class jobs should be saved:
America is being insulted once again. We are being told that we can invest in other countries, Corporate welfare, and "small business", but we cannot spend one red cent to save unionized American jobs, advance American prestige, or increase American scientific knowledge. We need to let President Obama and Congress know that cuts to future NASA funding cannot be accepted because the work they do is too important.
