Fly Me to the Moon and Mars | Green Energy News

January 1, 2004 – Vol.8 No.42

FLY ME TO THE MOON AND MARS.

First to the moon and then to Mars, what a great idea from the Bush White House (even though it has no real purpose or objective other than to go.)

George Bush’s formal announcement of new space adventures is clearly an election-year vote-getter, obviously a financially irresponsible plan for a country deep in debt, and other than a like-Mt. Everest climb-it-because-it-is-there rationale for going, there seems to be no set goals once we get there. (Well, we could start building subdivisions, shopping malls and car dealerships.)

Still, the idea has its merits. The trip itself may mean nothing, but the technology needed to GET to the Red Planet could help this planet become a Greener Planet

Though hordes of taxpayers money (up to $ 1 trillion estimated for the for Mars trip alone) would go into things like rocket ships, propulsion systems and space suits, huge sums of money would also go into energy technologies for spacecraft and power systems needed to live and work on the surface.

Research and development for space exploration has always trickled down to better energy products for use on Earth. The Apollo program boosted research and development in fuel cells. Space exploration, in general, has been very kind to solar R&D.

Possibly, just possibly, money spent to develop technologies to travel to and survive on the Moon and Mars could lead to vastly improved energy technologies that could remove us completely from the fossil fuel addiction. Wouldn’t it be ironic that the oil companies’ best friend, the anti-environment President is the one that indirectly saves our planet?

So here’s a plan. Write your Congressman or woman. Write your local newspaper. Tell them this: Yes, you support the new space adventure provided all the research for technology to get us there is open, available to all, shared around the world for commercial or private use.

And tell them your tax dollars are not to be spent on yet another corporate welfare scheme. The fruits of your taxes - the research and technology that will take us into the solar system - should be immediately fed back into the economy. After all it is the people’s money (or the people’s debt) that will get us there. The people who pay for this project should be the beneficiaries.

The Space Shuttle program was open to all. Technology, research for the Moon- Mars adventure should be similarly open and free to all who ask.