President George W. Bush’s announcement last week that he plans to allocate $12 billion to put humans back on the moon and eventually onto Mars is facing tremendous amounts of criticism – and the critics are right. Sending a human to Mars is a grand national goal of huge importance that harkens back to the days of former President John F. Kennedy. But Bush’s plan neither gives such a grand mission nearly enough funding nor is correctly timed – during an age on Earth when there are scores of epidemics and giant problems, Bush should have channeled the nation’s energy toward solving more pressing problems.
While he has the right idea in bringing up the idea of eventually going to Mars and stirring up what will inevitably a controversial debate, he did so at the wrong time.
During the Cold War, Americans took pride in space exploration and focused great energy on it, leading to some of the greatest science ever. Now, Bush should push similar energy into a national goal that will help more immediate issues – health care, the AIDS epidemic, social security or cancer. Especially in tough economic times, every extra American penny should focus on problems that seriously threaten the future of the human race. And past American successes in space can be a great model. When Kennedy set the space program in motion in the 1960s, inspired and properly-funded scientists took it from there, meeting his goals and more. If Bush were to put forth such a national mission in another area, Americans would no doubt be equal to the task.
The idea of going to Mars should not be tossed aside, but it must be addressed at the right time and with proper funding. Former President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation when he demanded that an American step on the moon before the end of the 1960s. Space is something that fascinates everyone and is guaranteed to make headlines.
But Bush is playing off that fact and using Mars purely for political reasons, while not making the a proper financial commitment – $12 billion was not enough money to finish The Big Dig, and it certainly will not be enough to fund human exploration of Mars. Bush is not taking his new “national goal” seriously because he is not making a serious commitment to it. By not even attempting to bring up the idea in the proper fashion, his plan seems like little more than a grand political ploy. But by calling it the new “national goal” and inadequately funding it, he has set it up to fail.
Bush needs to be honest with America about how much going to Mars will cost. Especially in a time of economic crisis, honesty would have been the best policy. Bush is mistaken if he believes his dreams of landing on Mars will provide him with an easy landing into the White House in 2004.