Space: The Final Frontier

With the space shuttle Discovery mission coming to a close, many here on earth are debating the mission of our space program and who should pay for it.

According to NASA,
When the crew members of Space Shuttle Discovery are awakened at 8:39 p.m. EDT today, they will immediately begin preparing the orbiter and themselves for landing. They are scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:47 a.m. Monday. The engine burn that drops Discovery from orbit will occur at 3:40 a.m. if weather at the landing site permits.

STS-114, dubbed the most photographed spaceflight, set a new precedent for future test flights. Never-before-seen imagery aided engineers in assessing the Shuttle's external tank performance and ensuring a safe heat shield for return to Earth. A mission of firsts, STS-114 carried the Orbiter's Boom Sensor System on its maiden flight, performed the first back-flip in spaceflight and successfully completed a first-of-its-kind repair to the Shuttle, making spacewalk history. Discovery was the first Space Shuttle to visit the Station since late 2002.

Everyone is waiting with baited breath for the Discovery's return. As a result of being the most photographed spaceflight in NASA history, Discovery has become the most meticulously scanned mission holding national media interest on almost a daily basis. Where somethings would not have even taken notice by mission control now each discovery (no pun intended) is debated by media talking heads giving their 'opinion' on what Houston or the Astronauts are doing, thinking, and stressing.

Critics of the space program see this mission performed by the Discovery Crew to be a clear indicator of how the space program is in dire need of overhaul and civilian funding to offset the cost incurred by the tax payer for a 20 year old fleet of orbiters. Some would even suggest that we stop the space program altogether. Why go to the moon or mars if we can't even make it to the space station without putting our astronauts in extreme peril? A fair question to be sure.

The space program is rooted national pride. The space race with the Soviet Union challenged America to prove that free minds could excel and dream bigger than those of oppressed cultures. Our space program's slow start up which culminated with putting not just one man on the moon but completing 6 missions and a total of 12 men who left their foot prints on another celestial body; Add that to the building of the first fleet of reusable low orbit spacecraft and the US has a great deal to be proud of and there shouldn't be a debate on whether we continue our exploration of the solar system in which we reside. We should continue to push the boundaries of our technology and our understanding of what we know to be the universe. As mankind realizes our uniqueness in the universe, perhaps then will we begin to treat the human race as one.

AZ