NASA needs protection - we all benefit

The shuttle program at NASA is back on track, according to the AP, who declared on 7/11, "NASA's space shuttle program is back, several experts and astronauts declared Tuesday, as Discovery's successful mission all but slams the door on the problem-plagued Columbia period." That is a very good thing, but things are not that rosy for our space program. I believe that NASA can be seen as a barometer for the overall health of our nation.

NASA's budget is part of the awful consequence of going to war in Iraq - It is as if U.S. leaders prefer destruction and killing to building scientific progress and understanding the basics of human life. Why on earth must this nation make such a devil's bargain?

Science is on the chopping block - If Discovery and assembly of the International Space Station is the line of success, then space research seems to be on the budgetary line of failure. It seems that this nation has decided that we cannot do both. All we may get from NASA in the way of science is their science webpage because NASA may mothball Space Station Research, according to MSNBC and Reuters. Quoting from the 7/27 article,

NASA is considering shutting down all the research programs it conducts aboard the international space station for at least a year to fill a projected budget shortfall of up to $100 million, a top station manager said Thursday.
Space station research was already slashed to just over $200 million last year to help the U.S. space agency pay for Hurricane Katrina losses and cost overruns in the space shuttle program. Less than $100 million was requested for station research for the year beginning on Oct. 1.
NASA Deputy Space Station Program Manager Kirk Shireman was asked if it was true as reported on the independent NASA Watch Web site that the agency was considering shutting down its research for a year or more for budget reasons, or would pursue other steps. Shireman replied, "All those things are under consideration."

NASA'S goal of "Understanding and protecting our home planet" is also gone - In a related story, in February NASA quietly dropped the protection of our home planet from their goals. While I applaud our current president's aspirations of going back to the moon, it is not nearly as hospitable place to live as Mother Earth. And, as I write this, the earth is becoming even less environmentally healthy. To quote the 7/22 New York Times story,

From 2002 until this year, NASA’s mission statement, prominently featured in its budget and planning documents, read: “To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can.”
In early February, the statement was quietly altered, with the phrase “to understand and protect our home planet” deleted. In this year’s budget and planning documents, the agency’s mission is “to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”
David E. Steitz, a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said the aim was to square the statement with President Bush’s goal of pursuing human spaceflight to the Moon and Mars.
But the change comes as an unwelcome surprise to many NASA scientists, who say the “understand and protect” phrase was not merely window dressing but actively influenced the shaping and execution of research priorities. Without it, these scientists say, there will be far less incentive to pursue projects to improve understanding of terrestrial problems like climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Political secrecy is also in play - The New York Times carried this related story and links to more articles in a box next to the"Home Planet" story above. NYT stated that,

Across NASA, researchers and career public affairs workers spoke up to alert The New York Times to rising political interference with the flow of science news to the public. A week after The Times' first story, Michael Griffin, the NASA administrator, issued a statement "on scientific opennness" to the agency's 19,000 employees saying changes would be made.

Related Articles
NASA's Goals Delete Mention of Home Planet (July 22, 2006)
Scientists Commend NASA's Progress on Communications (March 14, 2006)
House Panel Prods NASA for Improvement on Openness (Feb. 17, 2006)
Call for Openness at NASA Adds to Reports of Pressure (Feb. 16, 2006)
Ex-Press Aide for NASA Offers Defense (Feb. 10, 2006)
Editorial: Censoring Truth (Feb. 9, 2006)
A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA (Feb. 8, 2006)
NASA Chief Backs Agency Openness (Feb. 4, 2006)
Lawmaker Condemns NASA Over Scientist's Accusations of Censorship (Jan. 31, 2006)
Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him (Jan. 29. 2006)

We all may need to move - It turns out that people in Denmark are the happiest, according to a Pew survey. I wonder how many of us Denmark can accomodate. Quoting the story,

Piecing together information from more than 100 studies in the growing field of happiness research, a British psychologist has produced what he says is the first world map of happiness.
It ranks 178 countries, with Denmark at the top and the African nation of Burundi at the bottom. The United States comes in 23rd.
"While happiness is intangible, the scales used in these studies are very accurate," said Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist who is working toward a doctorate at the University of Leicester. "Happiness research is far from an exact science, but it is the best way we have of looking at it."
White analyzed the data in relation to a nation's health, wealth and access to education. The United States came in relatively low -- beneath Bhutan,
Brunei and Canada, among other countries -- in large part because of health factors. "You don't have the highest life expectancy," he noted.

No kidding! - As a retired psychotherapist, I am fully aware of the high cost of stress to our physical and mental health. Since the turn of the century I have been unhappy with the leadership of our country. Is that one of the reasons for my declining health? Who knows, but do I have to move to Denmark to find out? Maybe it would be easier for all of us if we just change leadership - like, say, this fall.
Tags: commentary NASA federal budget space program links public opinion polls economics