CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Mercury astronaut John Glenn wants NASA's space shuttles to keep flying until a reliable replacement is ready, no matter how long it takes.I'm with Glenn on this one. It doesn't make sense to me to shelve a perfectly good working system and give millions to the Russians just so we can maintain our position in space. The Shuttle fleet is aging, but until we have a replacement, I think it's a good investment in technology and in our nation's economy to keep our equipment flying and our dollars in America.
Glenn joined the national debate Monday over America's future in space and became the latest ex-astronaut to speak out on the matter. He issued a nine-page statement in which he questioned the decision to retire the shuttle fleet and rely on Russia to take astronauts to the International Space Station.
"We have a vehicle here, why throw it away? It's working well," the first American to orbit Earth said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Glenn said he's against paying the Russians $55.8 million per person to fly U.S. astronauts to the space station and back. That's the price for a single ticket starting in 2013; right now, it's costing NASA $26.3 million and will jump to $51 million next year.
John Glenn doesn't believe the general public realizes what's happening on the space front.
"Going to Russia and being, in effect, under control of Russia for our space program just doesn't sit right with me and I don't think it sits well with the American people, or won't, either," said Glenn, a former U.S. senator who rode the shuttle into orbit in 1998 at age 77. He turns 89 next month.
Glenn said little if any money will be saved by canceling the shuttle program, considering all the millions of dollars going to Russia for rocket rides. At least two shuttle flights a year could keep the station going and the work force employed, until something new comes along, he said.
Monday, June 21, 2010
John Glenn: Keep the Space Shuttles Flying
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth and the first 77-year old to fly in space does not want the Space Shuttle fleet retired:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
According to NASA's website, the average cost of launching a space shuttle is $450 million, and at an average of nine launches per year that works out to a cool $4.05 billion a year. That makes paying the Russians $50 million per person seem like chump change. How can you oppose increased taxation and our ballooning national deficit and still support such a wasteful government program?
Try doing some research - such as a basic Google search - before forming your opinions.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/shuttle_faq.html
Let's see, who should I listen to for advice on the space program, some guy named Nick Bush or John Glenn? I think I'll go with Glenn.
And yes, I'd rather support a more expensive US space program than pay Russians to do the work we should be doing. Just because it's cheaper doesn't mean it's smarter. Maybe that would cause us to take money away from things we shouldn't be paying for..like illegal aliens or social programs that do nothing but enable lazy people to do nothing.
Post a Comment