Jericho: The Problem is David

Go have a look at this article from CNN.

Now, anyone who has read this blog for a while knows I am a fan and supporter of advanced scientific research, space travel, NASA and the effort to privatize space. So, when Buzz Aldrin puts up an opinion on CNN that echoes my own feelings, I feel buoyed! Going back to the Moon has its place. But, in truth, I think striving for Mars is a better use of public funds. Let the growing nations compete with private American corporations for the Moon. NASA has already been to the Moon. NASA should be breaking new ground, exploring new territory. NASA should aim for Mars.

However, in the comments, I find this:

David
updated Tue June 23, 2009

Go to Mars? Why bother? What's the point?

The moonlanding was just a feather in the US's cap, it was a fun goal to get the country fired up over. But when it's said and done what did we get out of it? Bragging rights, nothing but bragging rights.

Why not put our time, money and effort toward something that matters like curing cancer, or ending world hunger, or bringing about world peace?

Wow.

They say if one does not study history, one is doomed to repeat it. I say, if one does not study history, one is doomed to leave ignorant comments on the Internet!

That's the one and only shot I'm going to take at David. I'd like to stand on my chair and call him a few choice names, but, that would accomplish nothing and, frankly, I think I understand David and people like him. I'll bet David is younger than I am. I'll give David some marks for intelligence - his comment is well written with not too many grammatical errors. And, David is a good-hearted liberal - he wants to deal with immediate social issues directly. I think I'm starting to like David.

However, David has no grasp of the past. None. If David thinks the Space Race was a "fun goal" - he hasn't cracked a history book. David, allow me bring you and your generation up to speed. You've heard the term "Space Race", you have likely heard the term "Cold War". Both of these terms get batted around a lot, but, in truth, the Space Race was just another arm of the Cold War. And, the Cold War was indeed a WAR. Sure, there were no Russian tanks in France or bombs falling on Moscow, but it was a war. Brave men and women died fighting that war every day. The Apollo astronauts that died on the pad should have been treated as war heroes, because that's what they were in every definition of the term. The Davids of the modern world didn't build bomb shelters in their back yards, wondering if they would ever need to use them. They didn't have bomb drills, huddled in the basements of their schools and churches hoping to God that they would never have to do this for real. (I huddled. I cried. I prayed.) The Cold War held the two largest countries on the planet in mortal fear of the other.

You have to start with Sputnik. The Russians put the first artificial satellite in orbit. That seemingly useless metal ball that went "beep-beep-beep" represented a new front in the Cold War. If the Russians could put a ball into orbit, they could put a bomb into orbit, they could weaponize space and then no one was safe. There is more than one account of people sitting in their living rooms, listening to the "beep-beep-beep" on the radio and looking at the ceiling like the bombs were going to start falling right at that moment. People were scared, and, maybe, rightly so. The Russians were aggressive and they beat the Americans to the punch.

The race was on. The Russians were the first to put a man in orbit. That changed everything. The Americans lagged behind every step and people were getting more frightened by the moment. The Cuban Missile Crisis didn't make anything easier.

It could be argued that Kennedy set up the race for the Moon as "bread and circuses" politics with NASA in the center ring of the biggest circus of them all. But, I think the only ones that could think that are people who have the comfortable distance of time from the events of those days or those who live in the valley of ignorance. You see, the Moon was indeed a goal that would get people fired up. And that was the point. If people wanted to reach the Moon, they would spend money and take risks and do what it took to get there. A lot of research would be needed. New solutions to new problems would have to be found. And not just one solution, getting to the Moon wasn't just one puzzle. Thousands of problems would require thousands of solutions.

And that's the trick. People were scared of the Russians. They wanted to defeat them, to break them, to leave them behind us technologically. Thus, they were willing to spend gobs of money to achieve this goal, spending money on what amounted to pure research. And they did - solutions were found, thousands of them. But, those solutions, like any solution, didn't just apply to getting people to the Moon. No, those answers were answers to questions in many fields. The Apollo program advanced materials science, communications, health, earth sciences, etc., etc. Buzz was right, the computer on board the Apollo missions had less computing power that a modern calculator. Your cell phone has more power than the entire Apollo program vehicles combined. But, those computers didn't exist before Mercury and Apollo. If they had to take one of the earlier computers with them, the size and weight would have made it impossible. The work that went just into the computers that were used was probably worth the whole program and leads directly to the computer that you are reading this blog on right now. Hundreds of other inventions from digital readouts (like on your alarm clock) to Lycra (read the label on a bra!) all had to be created to get man into space and on the Moon.

The Mercury and Apollo programs were worth every penny. They advanced technology untold amounts. They also gave us something that maybe we were missing: a sense of adventure and hope for the future.

Now, it's obvious that David's hold on the past isn't too good. His grasp of the future is shaky as well. Allow me to point the way.

David asked what is the point of going to Mars? As Buzz said, it is a goal just beyond our grasp. They canceled the Apollo program due to lack of interest. The American people caught David-itis and began asking what's the point? We beat the Russians - why are we still doing this? The big picture eluded them and the politicians of the era went with the whim of the people when they should have had the balls to lead them to better things. The Davids won the day and lost their souls in the process. NASA talked at the time of going to Mars, and, in this writer's humble opinion, considering Wernher Von Braun was at the helm, I think they could have gone and done it and we'd be that much further ahead.

So, I ask that you keep the Apollo program in mind and ask the question again: Why go to Mars? I'm sure the answer is now obvious. Since it isn't easy to go to Mars, it will require a lot of research to get there. And, yes, that translates into a lot of dollars (it also translates into a lot of jobs, but, who needs those, right?) Since it will require a great deal of research to get to Mars, a great deal of problems will get solved. Those solutions will apply to many fields, not just space travel.

The modern Mars program will have a disadvantage that a Mars program in the 70s wouldn't have had: Public Relations. The public (as represented by David) and the media have long been critical of NASA and space programs in general. Either the programs were not grand enough when compared to Apollo (this being the result of funding cuts by Congress) or a mistake had been made that caused an error (often as the result of funding cuts by Congress) - NASA has been the butt of Tonight Show jokes for the last three decades.

Then, we lose seven astronauts in a tragic explosion that is replayed a billion times by the media and plastered on every newspaper for a month. So, instead of getting right back on the horse, NASA is forced to take nearly a decade to design a better O ring!

Public opinion is driving NASA to face their ultimate nemesis; Perfection. In the 70s, as we see in Mr. Aldrin's tale on the Moon landing, there was room for error. NASA didn't have to have everything 100% with no chance for error before even one tile was glued into place. So, now, not only will the program have to solve the issues of getting to Mars, they will have to do it perfectly. That will require many more solutions.

So, just maybe, those solutions will apply to curing diseases such as cancer. And, if you can grow food on Mars, you can grow it anywhere. Solving a problem for Mars, any problem, will solve it for Earth. (And, just for David, cancer is being cured. Many companies are working on it. There is money to be made, so research is happening. Many more people are surviving cancer than ever before. Oh, and world hunger would be easy to solve. The problem there is politics. You can't cure politics.)

So, in conclusion, I say: Let's go to Mars.

We can send David first!

(A little education from Wernher Von Braun, Disney and the Cold War!)