EDITORIAL: It's high time NASA headed for new vistas, having braved the way in near space
Maybe it was written in the stars, but there was something celestially ironic in Wednesday’s announcement of a faraway planet with a climate approximating Earth’s. The news came the same day that Congress surprised one and all, pulled together in a bipartisan manner and passed a smart plan for our nation’s space exploration program.
How smart? It sets aside money for the development of commercial aircraft by private firms such as SpaceX, which has a testing site outside McGregor, to carry cargo and crews for near-space missions such as the International Space Station. And it wisely reshifts NASA’s focus to developing new forms of rocketry for deep space.
Yes, President Barack Obama’s hopes (and ours) of securing up to $3.3 billion for commercial outfits such as SpaceX were dashed this time — only $1.3 billion was funded in the bill late Wednesday night. But the overall $58 billion bill — crafted in a rare spirit of compromise by everyone from U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards to U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to Obama — at least seals the deal, making it clear that NASA has paved the way in near space well enough for commercial firms to take over while the space agency’s very best study the problems of reaching Mars, the moons of Jupiter, maybe even a faraway, uniquely Earth-like planet orbiting a red dwarf star.
Some may frown at NASA’s increasingly limited role in near space. But in a capitalist system that champions free enterprise, it’s high time private firms assume this burden, leaving NASA free to tackle a new and exciting frontier where, as the saying goes, “no man has gone before.”
Keep your eyes peeled heavenward.
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