Unfettered Letters

Space program wastes money

“American and Russian crew members go for a six-hour spacewalk outside the international space station” (12/23, A-6). I wonder how much this cost.

How many families looking forward to a dismal holiday because of their lack of funds could have benefited from a different use of our tax dollars? How many homeless people could have thought of a better use for the money spent?

My real question: How many billions of dollars have been spent on space exploration in relation to the benefits we have realized from it?

It seems like we, the middle class, could think of a better use for money than war and space travel.

If there really is life out there that we might be interested in, why don’t we just let them find us and put our money to better use?

Gary Levin
Overland Park

Present needs are top priority

Past life or present troubles? Two articles in the 5/28 Star — “Glitch halts work by Mars spacecraft” (A-2) and “Food stamps can’t keep up with prices” (A-1) — make me wonder which is more important.

It’s a no-brainer. Millions, perhaps billions, of taxpayer dollars to hunt for clues to possible past life on Mars, or money to help solve our own present problems?

That past life (if found) is past. If they find any, then what? Why, when and how this happened? Will they dig in the dirt for maybe more clues?

All that money for past, possible and perhaps?

I don’t think so, and I’ll bet many, many agree.

Louise V. Miller
Wellsville, Kan.

Space program worth price?

A recent Star article (3/25, A-2, “One Mars rover heads for hibernation”) stirred some thoughts I have had since the space shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas on its return to Earth in 2003.

The article stated the rovers were being put to sleep and having their activities reduced to cut $4 million from NASA’s budget. The budget for these rovers has been $20 million a year.

The rovers did send back evidence that water may have once run on the surface of Mars. So? I really don’t see how that information has helped the average citizen.

I acknowledge that we have gained some valuable data from past space explorations, but where are we going with this? I am not interested in living in a pod in outer space, nor interested in taking trips to look at Earth from above.

Are we getting any real benefit for the great amount of money this program is costing us? Maybe it is time we took a new look at what is really important to the future of mankind on Earth and where we focus our energies and tax dollars.

Roger C. Turner
Bonner Springs

Travel to space station

Phil Swayne (3/14, Letters) brought up America’s lack of transportation to the International Space Station following the retirement of the shuttles in 2010. America is unlikely to have independent access to the station during the climax of its existence.
The same burgeoning commercial spaceflight industry that launched SpaceShipOne in 2004 might come to the rescue. NASA is already pursuing a contract with two of these start-ups, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, to find a commercially viable alternative to launching its own missions to the station. Each of these contractors would launch craft, largely funded by NASA, to re-supply the station, with designs capable of ferrying humans to and from the station.
This would not only save the dignity of our space program; it would also be a boon for commercial spaceflight, giving them a boost into the realm of orbital space and beyond.
Paul Knightly
Space, political blog: www.zeitgeistzephyr.com
Lenexa