Earth Sweet Earth

Looks like the Shuttle made it back safely.

It might seem a bit obvious to say this, but it seems to me that space is dangerous. Getting into and out of it especially so. And maybe it's time we had a serious national dialouge as to whether it's worth the risks. It seems to me that it is.

It seems kind of trite to say we should go because we can, but hell, maybe that's enough. It's a vital part of the human sprit that we push the boundries of our habitat. It's an instinct that has had notably positive and negative ramificaitons over the centuries, but it has never been surpressed. And while we should certianly do everything we can to make sure that these shuttle flights are safe, these astronauts are adults who have weighed the risks and know exactly what they're getting into. We are learning new things every minute we are in space. If nothing else it has been an exercise in international cooperation that surely has had real world rewards.

But I think the most complelling reason, for me at least is the one with the least logical reasoning behind it. We should keep pushing into space because, well, it's SPACE, man! I know that we have problems here on earth that need to be taken care of but look at what we spend on NASA. $16.2 Billion a year.

We're currently spending $1 Billion a week in Iraq, accourding to the GAO.

I'm just saying that maybe if we ordered our priorities a little better, we could reach for the stars without being cut off at the knees.