A Controversy to Consider

Controversial Constellation (try saying that 5 times fast).

  There is some controversy (how many times can we say the word controversy?) going on in the NASA division.  In 2004, the former president George W. Bush announced that the shuttle program would end in 2010 for the Constellation Program to take its place.  The problem is, they don’t  know which spacecraft to use.  NASA would use the newly developed idea of the Ares I and Ares V spacecrafts.  But in late January of 2007, after three years of development, a new spacecraft idea came into play.  The Ares IV. 

   The Ares I and Ares V use a lot of old ideas.  Ideas from the 1970′s (such as the engine from the Apollo days) that are being redesigned or used for the first time even though the idea was created over three decades ago.  You’re probably wondering why I keep saying Ares I AND Ares V.  Well, they’re two different spacecrafts, however, each would have to be in orbit at the same time for this system to work.  Ares I is the manned spacecraft (where all of the people go for the journey).  Ares V is the cargo spacecraft (where all of the food and supplies go).  The two ships will attach in space.

   The Ares IV is a kind of a combination of everything.  It still uses ideas from the 1970′s but also uses ideas from the shuttle program in use today.  instead of two rockets, the Ares IV is one contained module.  It would kill two birds with one stone as they say (that is a very morbid saying if you think about it), carrying the astronauts and the cargo.

   What is the Constellation Program?  The Constellation Program will take over the space shuttle program in 2015.  In this program, NASA plans to successfully land on the moon for the first time in over thirty years.  Also, they plan to go to Mars in this program.  Another problem is, because of the recession, NASA has encountered major budget cuts.  So NASA may not be able to afford this program.

   I do not think that America’s money should be spent on the NASA program at the moment.  We should wait until the economy heals to start this program again.   There is no need to go to the moon or mars right now.  Sure, there is hydrogen on the moon.  But do we REALLY need it?  No.  Because hydrogen is a renewable resource which means there is an abundance of it.  Plus, 40 million people in America under the age of 65 don’t have health insurance.  Why should we spend extra money on something that isn’t going to help America in an entirety?  I’m not saying we should shut down the entire program forever.  I’m just saying that we should postpone the Constellation Program for a couple of years until the recession is over and we can afford to splurge on the program.