Saturday, January 24, 2004
I Don't Really Agree With Him, Do I?
So Dubya wants to give the space program a shot in the arm, eh? When I first heard this news, I was somewhat aghast. Not because I have something against NASA. Far from it. Take in consideration that I am an engineer by trade (read: geek) and you'll realize that anything remotely Star Trek-y is way cool by me. No...I was aghast because on some level, I was actually in agreement with a position that Dubya took.
Needless to say, I had to think about this a little more. This is what I came up with.
I am highly in support of the space program. Not just because of the cool factor, but because of the side effects that such an endeavor creates. In order to meet the goal of space flight and extraterrestrial landings, brand new technologies are dreamed up that eventually find their way to everyday life and enhance it. Lightweight and durable materials, new computational and signal processing methods which have now evolved into today's PCs, wireless technologies and digital media...all these things have roots in the space program because of the research done to achieve the tasks necessary.
That type of research that is the first thing eliminated from cost conscious corporations when Wall Street takes a slight dip. Left up to so called "hi-tech" companies that are ruled by the whims of stock analysts, the effort to push the envelope gives way very quickly to the effort to cut corners to save $0.01 per part. Any major grants to the space program would ease the restrictions on engineers and scientists to advance technology as we know it faster than any suit in an ivory tower would allow.
But ironically, the decision to launch such a highly intellectual journey appears to start with a dimwit. George W. Bush wouldn't know a Mars Rover from a Mars bar. From the moment he began his presidential campaign, I, like many others, was convinced that he isn't the brightest bulb in the light socket. But he certainly has enough political controllers, er, "advisors" to let him know when he needs to jump on something. And the success of the Mars Rover looked like a real good opportunity to do smooching up to the public. Politically, it's a nice touch. Take an amazing technological breakthrough, mix in a little American can-do spirit, toss in a little appeal to the curious, exploratory nature of humans and channel a little bit of JFK's vow to put a man on the moon. It's a good springboard to do a little bit of campaigning to push his re-election bid. The "plan" that's been served up for this is so open-ended and long term that it can't really be evaluated, but seems to sound pretty good at first glance that maybe...just maybe...you'd want to keep him in office to allow him to get the ball rolling.
Naaaaahh.
