Pope

EXTENDED INQUIRY PROJECT

Why did NASA end space flights, and what does that mean to our nations identity in space

exploration

Seth Pope

Instructor: Malcolm Campbell

English 1102

March 22, 2013

1

Pope

“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”

-Neil Armstrong

Back in the 1950’s through the 70’s, the space race was going on all around

the world. The big race was to see which country could land a manned spacecraft on

the moon and safely return the astronauts back to Earth. Should NASA return to the

moon? Do they have enough money and resources to return to the moon?

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957. This was the first

satellite launched into space. The Sputnik launch led to the creation of the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). “Right after the launch of Sputnik 1,

the United Stated Defense Department responded to the political furor by approving

funding for a United States satellite project. Wernher Von Braun and his elite team

of rocket scientist began to work on the Explorer project.” (Launius). The space race

had begun between the United States and the Soviet Union. There were many

attempts to get a manned spacecraft to the moon but all of them ended in disaster.

- Sputnik

2

Pope

“The first lunar landing mission took place July 16, 1969 with the launching

of the massive Saturn 5 rocket Apollo 11 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The

astronauts aboard were Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. After 4

long days of space travel, they finally reached the moon. On July 20th, Armstrong and

Aldrin landed on the moons surface for the first time in the history of mankind.

Collins stayed behind in the Command Module and orbited above.” (Dunbar). After

this occurred it confirmed that the United States won the space race defeating the

Soviet Union.

-Lunar Landing

The Apollo Program lasted from 1963-1972. There were major

accomplishments achieved during those years. A total of 17 Apollo spacecraft were

launched. Apollo 7 and 9 orbited Earth; they were used as experimental missions.

The first Apollo rocket to reach the moon was Apollo 8. This Apollo mission along

with 10 others never landed on the moon. Apollo 11 was the first ever manned

3

Pope

spacecraft to land on the moon along with Apollo 12,14,15,16,and 17. The famous

Apollo 13 mission was heard around the world. This mission was intended for the

moon but never reached it due to an explosion aboard, and was not able to land, but

all 3 astronauts aboard survived and safely returned to Earth. “This program cost a

pretty penny. The total cost for the Apollo program to take place was $30 billion

back in 1972, in today’s economy that would average around $109 billion.”(Lafleur).

-Apollo 11

“The United States has spent $486 billion over 57 years on human space

flights.”(Lafleur). The Space Shuttle program started in 1972 and ended in 2012. In

the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program there was a total of 6 shuttles. Over the

years of this program 2 space shuttles were lost. Space Shuttle Challenger blew up

73 seconds after takeoff on January 28, 1986 and Space Shuttle Columbia

disintegrated on re-entry into the Earths atmosphere on February 1, 2001. “The

total cost for this program to take place was $198.6 billion.”(Lafleur). The Space

Shuttle carried out 135 missions including the Soviet Space Lab, the Hubble

4

Pope

telescope and later on the International Space Station (ISS).

-Space Shuttle

“The International Space Station program began in 1985, and will extend at

least until 2015. The station construction began in 1998 and was completed in 2011.

The total cost for this program is $72.4 billion. There are 4 other countries

contributing to the ISS. Russia $12 billion, Europe and Japan $5 billion each, and

Canada $2 billion.”(Lafleur). The ISS is a space lab constructed from small modules

to create one large station. These small modules were transported by the Space

Shuttle and put into place by astronauts. Up to 6 cosmonauts lives on the space

station and controls all of its experiments for months at a time before they make

their return to Earth. They get their supplies when one of the countries launches to

the station. The ISS is massive it expands over 300 feet long and over 200 feet wide.

5

Pope

It depends directly upon itself to function.

NASA plans to make a return to the moon. “ In 2010, President Barack Obama

directed NASA to work toward sending astronauts to a near- Earth asteroid by 2025,

then to the vicinity of Mars by the mid- 1030’s.”(Wall). The reason we are going to

explore an asteroid is because it could house valuable rocks and minerals for space

explorers to harvest, it will also prepare NASA for trips to Mars. The point in

returning to the moon is to establish a midway point for missions to exceed greater

distances past the moon. Their goal is to build a science lab, almost like the

International Space Station, but on the surface of the moon.” NASA states they want

to explore the far side of the moon.”(Wall)

Before NASA tries to launch a manned spacecraft to Mars, they have to come

up with ways to keep the astronauts healthy for such a long period of time. NASA

6

Pope

projects a mission of this size would cost between $20 and $40 billion. It would

roughly take a spacecraft 6 months to travel to Mars and an additional 6 months to

return back to Earth. Since Mars is such a great distance from Earth, they would

have to calculate the alignment of the planets into the distance.

NASA does much more then just space flight and exploration but they help

design equipment and technology to make air travel as safe as possible. NASA is

known for employing some of the smartest scientist in the world. They have a good

reputation and they are greatly respected.

I personally think NASA should return to the moon. There is so much to

explore in space. There have been great advances in technology since we last visited

the moon. I think we should return to the moon because there can be resources

there that we don’t have on Earth that we could use to live healthier lives.

Making it to the moon was one of the greatest accomplishments in mankind. I think

they should be more interested in studying the moon and visiting the moon instead

of Mars because we have been to the moon 6 times and the last time we were there

was in 1972. We are in the 21st century now and have made many new discoveries

since then. I think it would be smarter to go to the moon instead of mars because we

have already put man there and we know what it takes to keep a man alive on the

moon. Another reason it would make since to return to the moon and not Mars

would be the fact that the moon is closer and wouldn’t cost us, the tax payers as

much money. I’m willing to pay the taxes for giant expenses like this because you

never know what kind of positive outcomes could come from it. I think NASA has

plenty of money to do more space explorations. They are funded billions of dollars

7

Pope

every year by our government to do missions. I think reasoning behind ending the

Space Shuttle program was to save money and prepare for the future of space travel.

Why does so many people disagree with returning to space and the moon?

“59% of Americans disagreed on the ending of the Space Shuttle Program while

33% of them agreed on the ending of the program. The other 8% didn’t have an

opinion.”(Perna). The reason some people agreed with the ending of the program

and returning to the moon is because the government funds the program. The

American government is funded by the American people, which are paying taxes.

Taxes will inflate and the American person doesn’t want to pay high taxes for

something they won’t receive benefits from.

One thing I disagree with was the ending of the Space Shuttle program. Many

people lost their jobs when that program ended. The people that got let go was part

of the Space Shuttle generation and now they have brought in a whole new

generation of employees to work on the new Orion rocket. The Orion rocket will be

a powerful rocket to transport our astronauts to our moon and further endeavors.

This rocket is built to last for great lengths of time in space.

NASA thinks they can pull off these manned missions without exceeding their

budget, at $17.7 billion in the proposed 2013 federal budget with significant cuts to

the agencies Planetary Science Department. Exploration of the far side of the moon

could get started as early as 2021.

The number of privately owned space companies continues to grow. These

private space companies have some bizarre and outrageous ideas for a whole new

way to explore space. One of the bizarre ways I saw was they were talking about

8

Pope

mining on asteroids because asteroids are loaded with gold, diamonds, and other

minerals. Another way was to give rides into space and orbit around Earth a couple

of times before returning. A list of some privately owned space companies are Space

X, Armadillo Aerospace, Deep space industries and so on. This could be the future

for space travel.

9

Pope

SOURCES

Dunbar, Brian. ”NASA-National Aeronautics and Space Administration.” NASA. N.p.,

23 Mar. 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2013

Lafleur, Claude. “Costs of US Piloted Programs.” The Space Review:. N.p., 8 Mar. 2010.

Web. 22 Mar. 2013

Launius, Roger D. “The History of Satellites-Sputnik 1.” The History of Satellites-

Sputnik 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013

Lowman, Paul D. “NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration.” NASA.

N.p., 6 Sept. 2007. Web. 22 Mar. 2013

Perna, Gabriel. "Most Americans Disagree With NASA on Ending Space Shuttle."

International Business Times. N.p., 2 Aug. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

Wall, Mike. “ NASA May Unveil New Manned Moon Missions Soon.” Space.com. N.p., 7

Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2013

10

Pope11