Response to Robert Blint's "Who is LADEE?"

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."

OK, if you're a sci-fi geek like me, you'll understand exactly where that came from. If not, you still have probably heard that line before. For those of you who don't know, those were the opening lines to one of the greatest science fiction shows of all time, Star Trek. The series sparked a huge following and made people think about what's really out there in the huge void we call space. It really is the final frontier. Ever since the Russians launched Sputnik I, the first man made object to enter space, in October of 1957, people have been pushing the limits of aerospace technology to go farther and farther. Speaking of distance, Voyager I, the US satellite launched in 1977, entered interstellar space just last year in August. As of 3:52 on October 2nd, 2013, Voyager is about 18,840,832,690 kilometers from earth, making it the farthest man made object from Earth. And it's still working!

Voyager I is just one of the many accomplishments of the American space program. From the first human steps on the moon, to the numerous rovers on Mars, NASA has been a pinnacle of success for the aerospace industry. But like Mr. Blint said, they are starting to fade. As the private sector begins to flourish, NASA is suffering from budget cuts and declining numbers of employees. Few want to work for them anymore, simply because they feel there are better things to do, whether it be working for the private companies or something that won't go on standby status if the government shuts down (again). I agree with Robert that this is a major problem. There's all this talk about sending people to the moon again and then beyond, but do these private companies really have the resources or even intention of leaving Earth's orbit? As far as I know, most of these companies are focusing on commercial space flight, just using orbital travel to get people around the world faster. The few that do have intention of getting people on other worlds (or moons) are nowhere near the point of doing so. Only one company is the world has landed humans on an unearthly object, and that would be NASA. Not to mention they did it six times. The folks at NASA are not dummies. They know how to get to the moon, Mars, and beyond. And there are many brilliant young minds out there with the potential to help them reach those goals

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to convince people to work for NASA. Heck, the likelihood I will be in the aerospace industry is pretty low, but then again, who knows? But my (and Robert Blint's) point is that if NASA is to succeed in these missions, they need the support. Without support from the public, the government will just cutting the budget. They must realize that space exploration is the future of the human race. Captain Kirk said it best, space is the final frontier, and it's our job to explore it. NASA can lead that expedition, but they need manpower and support to do it.

So as another famous fictional spaceman once said...

TO INFINITY...AND BEYOND!