to that final frontier...

i just watched a video of neil de grasse tyson talking about nasa and its budget. the whole time i sat here trying not to be sad because we have basically pulled out of the space race.
yes, i am of the opinion that the race is not over, merely stagnating. we made it to the moon and have not gone back in years. other countries have made it into space besides the usa and russia (cccp - ie ussr). we're sending intrepid little rovers to mars - we're sending a bigger one - and yet we will not be sending anyone to mars soon since we are no longer going into space via our own program.

the race is going private. it may drive some competition, but it will also drive high prices. twenty years from now we may have a permanent physical presence in space beyond the international space station, however private citizens going there will have to pay out the nose for the privilege. and that's only IF we are lucky and the private sector continues efforts to make space-worthy ships. if they continue to work towards it, it will be sooner rather than later that our presence is established. however, if the competition dies down, it may take that twenty years or more. only time will tell.

then there's the factor that any private endeavors will be subject to government regulations, debates, and, again, how much money private parties are willing to pay. hell, after getting past all of the governing regulations put in place it could end up that some company manages to establish their own private sector presence in space and then pushes regulations that are in favor of them - and only them. then any presence in space is regulated by that company.
imagine a company that is powerful enough to do such a thing. imagine what they could do, what they could threaten. with no one else in space to see, they could force governments to bow to their will by threatening their own militarized action towards anyone who does not comply. whether this comes to pass or not, there will eventually be a 'great space war'.
coming back to the present, it makes me wonder what it would take for there to be a public movement to help fund nasa. not tax dollars, but the general public donating funds to provide extra funding on top of what the government provides so that the space program could continue to be competitive. how many people would donate? how much would they donate? what if the people interested each gave a dollar? ten dollars? twenty? yes, the issue would then be having to keep everyone interested in donating year after year.

but what about going back to the same nationalism inspired in the early years of the space race? astronauts were national heroes just for going into space. everything was about 'the world of tomorrow'. science fiction was becoming science fact. there are still remnants of all of that floating about. ad campaigns tout the 'futuristic' bent of whatever device or service they are selling to the point that people want the next new thing even before it is out. science fiction books, video games, and movies push the boundaries of the imagination again and again. science fiction still plants the seeds to help inspire future generations of scientists dreams of technology and space.

anyway, i think that my whole point is that we need to have a space presence. we need to keep moving forward, not backward. i know that this is a subject that is discussed more than enough, but it shouldn't die. humanity has always looked to the stars in wonder - we have made them gods, the heavens, and representative of more. they inspire our dreams and represent the unknown. since long before humanity sent anything into space people have dreamed and written of going there. there are more and more books, movies, and video games about such things. mentally we are becoming more obsessed with the concept of exploring space and encountering aliens, but physically we are grounded. some would argue the alien factor, but, let's face it, the universe is much more vast than we know, so it is likely that there has either been, are, or will be other populated planets.

i'm going to stop this stream of conscious typing and go continue to dream. i challenge others to do so as well. if we cannot do something to help nasa monetarily or physically, let's keep the debate alive and show our support for the space program. let's all keep the dream alive!