Space program
First was Apollo I and then the shuttle Challenger. We have lost brave men and women in the quest for knowledge that is space. We have lost scientists, military and even a teacher for the greater good of all mankind. We have not stopped seeking answers, and I am sure that those we have lost would ask us to strive forward in the quest. We can not abandon space exploration any more than we can abandon our individual lives. Space holds more answers to any question we can ever ask, past, present or future. For no matter what we are able to answer, there will always be more to be found. As we remember those who have died, let us respect and honor them. Let us expand our quest into space, let us land on foreign planets in the name of Grissom, White and Chaffee. Let us name interstellar transports in the names of Scobee, Smith, Resnik, McNair, Onizuka, Jarvis and finally let us name a research station in the name of McAuliffe. These men and women gave their all for all of mankind. As did the crew of Colombia. Mankind’s greatest achievement is the ability to overcome strife and adversity in the pure pursuit of knowledge.
When we land on Mars, Neptune and GOD who knows what else, let us remember those who have gone before us. Let us remember that we stand on the shoulder of giants and that these brave “Star Travelers” did, on a fateful day, did indeed “Reach Out and Touched the Face of GOD". GOD speed Challenger, Apollo 1 and Colombia. May the stars welcome you always to their fold and embrace you. May we, the people of earth, one day honor your memories and reach out and find the answers to questions you asked.
Sheridan
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When I reflect on the space program, it seems to me that the German scientists we imported were right.
They viewed the inclusion of "astronauts" to be irrelevant and a distraction, and at best they saw them as “passengers”.
There is nothing to be gained by sending humans to Mars, as politically inspiring as that may be seen by some. In contrast, adding human "passengers" to such a mission greatly expands the cost and risk, and bleeds torrents of funding from projects that would have far greater benefit to us. (Such as the cancelled satellite to measure earth’s albedo)
We have already landed on Mars, and our robot emissaries have sent back reports that have greatly expanded our understanding of that planet.
A human standing on the surface of Mars would give no more information than we already have at thousands of times the cost and danger.
You cannot take off the helmet and sniff the Martian air, you cannot remove your gloves and feel its soil, but our robots can, and have already done so.
We need to discard this expensive hocus-pocus of manned exploration and rather leave it to our robots.
They are after all, an extension of our own senses and reach.