NASA Scrubbs Discovery...Again

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

I dont know about you, but the space program as a whole today really doesnt make much sense. It seems to me that the risks out weigh the rewards here in 2006, and in my opinion, NASA should either focus completely on the future, or call it quits altogether. Its a shame that it has come to this, but when the Columbia decintagrated into the morning sky three years ago, it really put the space program into persepective. Is it worth the lives of seven or eight brave people just to go into space and orbit the earth? Americans have been orbiting the earth since the late 1950's, so what is really the point? We spend billions and billions of dollars a year on NASA, and unless they use that money on more uselful projects, I think the congress should simply cut them off.

The American space program used to be the envy of the world. During the 1960's, from Mercury, to Gemini, and especially during the Apollo years, we were utilizing our resources to reach an objective, which was to go to the moon. There is no such objective today, and we need one. I have heard talks about maybe going back to the moon, which I would support. There are even rumors of attempting to go to Mars, which I would strongly support. When the Apollo 1 astronauts died during a test, they died because we were on a mission. But now it doesnt seem to me like we have any mission at all. People say that space travel can never become routine, well, I honestly think it has. Too routine and far too dangerous.

In my opinion, NASA should just retire the shuttle project completely, and take the next decade to focus on going someplace. Nobody would mind if they did such a thing because we could all once again be galvonized by the brilliance of distant space travel. For those of you who dont know about it, go back and read about the space program of the 1960's, and how excited America was when we first orbited the earth, then orbited the moon, then finally landed on the moon almost 37 years ago. Space travel should be a game of firsts, but it hasnt been in nearly three decades. I direct you to the book "Lost Moon" by astronaut Jim Lovell, who was on the famous Apollo 13 mission. It really illustrates the NASA in those days, and shows much things have changed. I ask you all this question, and please leave comments, do you think what NASA does today, is worth the lives of our astronauts?

-Brad