Future in Space???

Maybe it is because it inspired me when I was growing up. Maybe because I know how dedicated people working in the space program are. Maybe because I know how important it is to keep America's leadership in space. Cancelling the constellation program concerns me greatly and saddens me immensely. (My guess...many folks don't even know what the constellation program is) It really scares me to know that after the shuttle retires this year our US government will no longer have or be in the process of building a new spacecraft. There are a lot of NASA critics out there. We hear the same thing over and over...behind schedule and over budget. Many claim that these are the reasons the space program is failing. WRONG.

I continue to be amazed at the number of people who have no idea what the space station is. People hear (sometimes) that another shuttle has launched...but have no idea why. Can you tell me when the last shuttle launched...or how many launched last year? People have no idea what kind of technology is being built every day because of NASA. When living in Houston and working at NASA, I knew exactly what NASA was up to and the great progress it was making every day. Upon moving to Washington, I have heard the word NASA from the media one time in two years, and I can not tell you how many people I have met who have absolutely no idea what NASA is even doing these days....all they say is that it is a waste of taxpayers money. When you never hear about the great successes NASA is making...it is easy to call it a failure. Some how some way people need to get excited about the space program again. It doesn't matter how hard our NASA engineers work and how exciting their plans our...if the public doesn't know about them, NASA will fail every time. Obama's new budget shows us exactly what happens when the public is left in the dark. When people don't know...they don't care. If people knew and understood what NASA was up to....I can all but guarantee (space nerd or not) people would be excited. Our biggest failure is not informing the people! Watch this video...and ask yourself....did I know this was all in the making? Then, remember...Obama's budget calls for 2.5 billion dollars to shut it down.