Byliner: A New Commitment to Space by Senator Nelson
(The Washington Post 02/02/03 op-ed) (580)
(This column by Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida), who is the ranking
minority member of the Armed Services subcommittee on strategic
forces, whose jurisdiction includes space issues, first appeared in
The Washington Post February 02, 2003 and is in the public domain. No
republication restrictions.)
(begin byliner)
A New Commitment to Space
By Bill Nelson
Once again we are tragically reminded of the perils of space
exploration.
Gus Grissom understood that peril 36 years ago when -- shortly before
he and two fellow astronauts died in the Apollo fire -- he said: "The
conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe and the six astronauts
aboard the ill-fated Challenger space shuttle understood and accepted
the risk, too.
Like Grissom, McAuliffe and the eight other earlier casualties of our
nation's space program, the seven astronauts who died over Texas
yesterday were willing to accept that risk in exchange for the great
benefits their brave exploration of the heavens could achieve for all
mankind.
Like so many other Americans, I'll never forget seeing the Challenger
launch into the clear blue Florida sky on Jan. 28, 1986. Just 10 days
earlier, as chairman of the House space subcommittee, I had returned
from six days on the 24th flight of the space shuttle Columbia. Staff
members and I gathered around the television in my Washington office,
and I was explaining each step of the launch sequence when the
terrible explosion occurred.
Yesterday morning, the skies were equally blue as Columbia soared
200,000 feet over Texas toward its scheduled landing at the Kennedy
Space Center in Florida after 16 days of scientific research in space.
It will be a while before we know what caused the sudden, horrific
ending of its flight and the tragic deaths of the six Americans and
the first Israeli astronaut aboard.
Today, our hearts and prayers go out to their loved ones left behind.
And as we once again extend our respect and gratitude to the families
of fallen astronauts, we must rededicate ourselves to making future
exploration of this final frontier as safe as humanly possible.
We already can thank the space program for spawning more than 1,300
technological advances -- including CAT scans, kidney dialysis
machines and the artificial heart.
Now, with the International Space Station, continued research may one
day lead to a cure for cancer and many other findings on behalf of the
good life here on Earth.
That is the cause for which 17 space explorers have now given their
lives. That is the cause for which all our astronauts have risked
their lives for nearly four decades now. And that is the cause that
took this nation to the moon in 1969.
Our next destination can still be Mars, but we've got to put a higher
priority on ensuring the safety of those who might journey there. Our
nation recommitted itself to making manned space flight as safe as
possible after the Challenger explosion. But these efforts have lagged
amid the budget pressures and cuts of recent years. Now, in the wake
of this new tragedy, we need to make a new commitment. And we must
live up to it.
As Gus Grissom said, the conquest of space is worth it.
(The writer, a Democratic senator from Florida, is ranking minority
member of the Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, whose
jurisdiction includes space issues.)
(end byliner)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
