The 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing provides an opportunity to not just reflect on one of mankind's greatest triumphs, but also to reflect upon the endless possibilities of things to come. Indeed, when the world watched in awe as humans left their footprints in the lunar dust three decades ago, the imagination of millions was inexplicably linked together, at least for a while, with dreams of the human potential in space flight.
Yet, while the U.S. maintains a space program of some merit, it has fallen significantly short of many of those early dreams. While we celebrate this grand event of human achievement, we must also ask ourselves where we plan to be in space in the next 30 years, and how we can get there.
Today's U.S. space launch system cries out for correction. While the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues to operate the Space Shuttle, a remarkable, partially-reusable system designed well over 25 years ago, it has its eyes set on developing the next generation launch vehicle - a vehicle that will carry America into the next century of space travel. Indeed, a replacement for the shuttle is needed.
Consider this: while the shuttle was designed to shave space launch costs, quite the opposite has happened. Conservative estimates indicate that putting a payload into space using the expensive fully disposable system of the Apollo Saturn V cost just shy of $4,000 per pound. Today's shuttle easily tops $10,000 per pound. Thus, operational costs of the shuttle program, despite the early NASA forecasts, are very high and consume an inordinate share of the total NASA budget and strain the agency's ability to explore space.
The U.S today needs a new national commitment to space. This commitment must not just come from the White House, although it is important that the President play a significant role. But it also must come from Congress, from the business community, academia, schools, and most importantly, the public. All must come together to support a new agenda for space.
This new agenda should be based the following principle: "modernize the past while transitioning to the future." Indeed, there are two camps that exist today: those that want to keep things as they are, and those who want to scrap everything and start from scratch. What is needed is a third way - one that profits off of the investments of the past, while avoiding yesterday's mistakes.
