Sermon On The Mount Of Space Tourism And Exploration

Something that really bothers me is when I hear otherwise-intelligent people making denigrating jokes about the idea of Space Exploration, or in the particular instance that has set me off on writing today’s rant, Space Tourism. Now I don’t actually know if Lewis Black can be safely bedded in the intelligence camp or not; he seems a little too coked out or something to retain much hold on his objectivity, but he is a regular on John Stewart’s show, and you have to respect that. I was watching the Daily Show yesterday, here on one of the two big plasma TVs which they have in the lobby of Freedom Rest. Incidentally, the mini-palace compound that is Freedom Rest is just a few blocks down from Saddam’s Presidential Palace (now the US Embassy), and served at one time as an Officer’s clubhouse for the former Iraqi President’s more favoured staff. Now my friends Darren and Steve, who were awesome enough to let me stay here until I can get out of country, run the place and oversee a team of people dedicated to making sure that soldiers here on R&R have fun. There’s a guy here whose job it is to fill up water balloons. I think I’ve mentioned that one before. The first time I came over here to visit a while back, Darren was refereeing a Sumo Suit match… that’s pretty much what it sounds like, where the contestants wear these really large padded suits which resemble sumo wrestler blubber and attempt to roll each other around the mat. Now as cool as all that is, let’s change the subject and talk about what a waste of money space adventuring is. (Yes, in case you missed it, there was definitely some snark in that last sentence. The Government spends a lot on Morale, Welfare, and Recreation programs for soldiers… which in and of itself is not a bad thing, but come on, it produces a resume which claims ‘water balloon filling’ as job experience?! Anyway, I won’t even get into the overall waste of money that is the war in Iraq; I think we’re all on the same page as far as that goes at this point.)
Anyway, Mr. Black was making fun of Anousheh Ansari, who returned recently from her 8 day sojourn aboard the International Space Station, saying that the reason she spent the $20 million for the experience was so that she could basically yell nyah nyah at the world’s poor from really high up. It was funnier the way he said it, I suppose, but as I’ve already said that sort of narrow minded joke telling irks me. I understand the fact that a lot of people consider Space Exploration, and more importantly the money that Space Exploration costs, a huge waste. I understand the fact, but not the why. Miss Ansari is an Iranian-American, and was the main sponsor of the Ansari X-prize. A real hero, as far as I’m concerned. The Ansari X-prize was an award of $10 million to the first non-government organization that could build a reusable space craft; it had to be launched and reach an altitude of 100 kilometers, the true boundary of space, twice within two weeks. The X-Prize has done more to spur competition in the private sector for reaching space than anything before or since, and has directly led to the possibility of affordable space flight for those of us who were too dumb in high school to understand that you had to get really really good grades to become an astronaut. With cheap spaceflight, a whole new frontier will open for the world, and the possibilities are awe-inspiring. I honestly believe that, for my (hypothetical) grandchildren to survive, we as a species have to keep moving forward. In a world where large sums of money are spent on infinitely more questionable purposes, it seems like the relatively small amount of money spent on furthering our understanding of the Universe should be beyond ridicule. It is, after all, merely a continuation of the greatest endeavour of the human race. Without exploration, we are nothing, and further, when man is brave enough to push at his boundaries and go where few have gone, invariably he comes back with knowledge that can change the face of what we thought we knew about the world.
Something I hear or read about a lot as an argument against spending money in Space is that the world has too many problems, more attention should be focused on poverty and yadda yadda. All this is true, but why start with bashing Space? There are so many other wastes of money and resources going on, that Space Exploration is a very small fraction of where the world’s money is going, and it has such tremendous possibilities. Compared to other wasteful government spending, for instance, space funding, which usually takes up less than 0.5% of the US Government budget, doesn’t even make the Heritage Foundation's top ten list of wasteful spending! And as far as someone like Miss Ansari spending a cool $20 mil on her lifetime dream goes, well, to hell with Lewis Black. I wonder if he, or even John Stewart, spends the same percentage of their worth on charities that she does? I mean, she was on the board of directors for the Make-A-Wish foundation, for god’s sake! It doesn’t make sense to make a joke at her expense in that manner. Even if you believe that she, or people like her, are morally bankrupt for spending that kind of money on something that you consider frivolous, you have to understand that for those who dream of a better future, Space is the catalyst that can make it all happen, the dream of man come true. It’s the highest ideal worth spending on, certainly more worthy than much of the other 99.5%! Well, that's an opinion, not a fact, but go take a look at that list and tell me that funding for space programs should be cut before any other single thing on it.
By the way, I’ve been trying really hard not to use Star Trek phrases here, (Final Frontier, etc.)  because I hate that anybody with an enthusiasm for space exploration is often lumped in with the Trekkies… I actually rather despise Star Trek. It’s just another easy joke for those wishing to minimize the awesomeness of the whole endeavour. Irony, sarcasm and wit are fine tools, but not when they are misdirected at the dreams of mankind. Save them for simian Presidents and pig-headed Secretaries of Defense and State. Speaking of which, don’t you think it’s rather amazing that Bush is getting impatient with Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki? That takes a lot of chutzpah, even for him. Bush illegally invades Iraq, his boy Bremer disintegrates the Iraqi army, they have absolutely no discernable plan for running the country, and everything goes to hell over a period of three years, so they throw up this poor guy al-Maliki and a few months later are trying to shift the responsibility for all of the chaos to him. They are getting impatient with him for not cleaning up their mess quickly enough, a mess which to all appearances is beyond fixing. I think that someone just needs to punch the man in the face, seriously. It’s way overdue.