Per the UPI Science News section, the House voted 304-118 to save the shuttle program for at least a little bit longer. This was a popular measure on both sides of the article, and shows how Democrats like Kosmas can save jobs in their district, even when the president doesn't include that in his budget. I'm happy Sen. Bill Nelson was visiting the House today making sure this got through. These are elected officials and they have constituents on the Space Coast, so this is what they are supposed to do.
But I can't help but wonder if we shouldn't just rip the band-aid off here. The Shuttle program is a dying program. I frankly find the popularity of this among conservatives a bit baffling. This is really an antiquated program, and a classic case of government continuing to fund something just because it is too painful to stop funding it.
I've noted before that those Republicans who dog stimulus spending on roads, which get used by millions every single day, are fairly hypocritical voting for millions to be spent sending people in aging cans into orbit. Like so much in government, our leaders seem unwilling to spend what it takes to reach loftier goals, but too reliant on pork to cut the losses and call it a day.
What we really need to do is find a way to reach further into the stars. I tend to think that can best be accomplished offering incentives to private space carrier providers, but it doesn't seem right now as if anyone is ready to put a Virgin Galactic ship on the pad as soon as the last shuttle lands.
I think the short-term possibilities in space tourism could be wonderful for the Space Coast economy. I think the long-term benefits on genuine intergalactic exploration are so great they can be ignored forever. But the vote today just hops NASA back on the same hamster wheel that has been spinning since the 1980s. Rather than waiting for the next Columbia disaster, I'd like to move on to the next step instead of keeping the shuttles on life support.
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