NASA isn't dead, but you're forgiven for thinking it is.

"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81) 04/11/2016 at 15:40 • Filed to: None

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This weekend I was told that NASA was shut down. I am not exaggerating when I say that this has happened hundreds of times over the past few years. Hundreds. Of course, NASA has not been shut down, but people outside of the engineering and science fields can’t be blamed for thinking it has been.

For much of the year, I wear a nice winter jacket with the NASA Meatball on the front. It was a gift from my coworkers when I left the agency and took a job in the auto industry a couple years ago. They thought that leaving Northern California for Michigan meant I was going to need all the warm weather clothing they could get me! It was a nice gesture and I wear it with pride. However, it attracts a certain kind of attention. Whenever people outside the scientific community see my jacket, they inevitably ask two questions:

1. Did you work at NASA?

2. Isn’t NASA shut down?

Of course, I always tell them that NASA is not shut down, it is very much still alive and doing science, and that they should go to NASA.gov to see what’s going on these days. I am almost positive that nobody bothers to check the site and that makes me sad.

The issue is obvious: we engineers and scientists aren’t doing flashy things to attract attention like we used to. Breaking the sound barrier in a rocket plane, sending humans into space, walking on the moon (six friggin’ times), and building a fleet of space planes were all spectacularly inspiring moments in scientific history. Camping on a space station with a Russian bus driver is bland by comparison, regardless of the technical achievement that it is. Planning for a mission to Mars two decades from now isn’t very interesting, either. Humans have trouble getting excited about things that won’t happen before the next season of Walking Dead ends. The slowing pace of progress is turning people off.

So the issue is obvious, but the effects of the issue may not be so obvious. When I was five years old, I watched one of our shiny new space planes explode over the Atlantic Ocean. It may sound morbid, but the Challenger tragedy focused my attention on NASA and the scientific achievements happening there. Things like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Shuttle-Mir Program, and the construction of the ISS all inspired me to build my knowledge of science with the end goal being to become a member of that space-faring team. Without the inspiration of the American space program, I would have likely become a machinist like my father. I have the utmost respect for machinists and tradesmen, but my meager skills generally don’t include anything requiring hand-eye coordination or “the knack”.

People born in the 90s or later never got to witness the high operational tempo our shuttle fleet experienced in the 80s and 90s. I got to watch 7 or 8 launches every year, read about their discoveries and science experiments in Popular Science and Popular Mechanics, and basically be a witness to history. I was working at the NASA Ames Research Center when Atlantis touched down in 2011 after what is likely to be the last American space plane flight of my lifetime. But by that time, in my 30s, I didn’t need the inspiration the shuttles to help pull me through the rigors of an engineering education. I worked with a number of older engineers over the years with similar stories of inspiration after watching The Mercury Seven and the Apollo moon landings. These are people who are running the scientific ball down the field today. That reach by the leadership of our country (and others) for technical excellence and advancement inspired several generations of engineers and scientists to reach higher than we otherwise might have, and the world has benefited from that ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ).

Whenever people tell me that they thought NASA was shut down after the shuttle fleet was retired, I am sad. Not because I think they should know better, but because I know exactly why they think that. Nobody on this planet is reaching for Mars like we reached for the moon. Yes, I am well aware of the ultimate goal of the Orion program (I have several friends working on it right now), and I am well aware of the importance of the ISS. The recent mission by Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko to study long term space exposure is critical to our ability to fly to Mars one day, but it’s not flashy and, honestly, should have been done decades ago. It’s not the kind of mission that inspires kids to push themselves in school. “I wanna live in an aluminum can for a year with a Russian and a vacuum powered toilet” said no school kid ever.

So I’ve done a lot of complaining here. What do I think can be done to fix it? Easy. Plus-up NASA funding. As Buzz Aldrin’s t-shirt always says: Get Your Ass to Mars. Do it before it’s too late. Do it before the “big science” momentum of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s is completely gone. After that, immediately go somewhere else. Maybe Titan or Venus. Anywhere. Whatever we do, we need to make sure we don’t lose our technological drive, and that means we need to start inspiring kids today. I have a 2 year old niece and I seriously hope that she can look to the sky one day and know there are explorers up there looking back. I hope that by then we, as a race, haven’t become so disinterested with the stars that we just stop.

“Going to Mars is sooooo expensive. It’s a wasted of money that should be spent on other stuff here”. I ask what’s the cost of not going? What’s the cost of not inspiring young people to rise to the absolute best of their abilities? What if we miss the next Einstein because she failed a standardized test, got kicked out of community college, and became a Deadspin or Kotaku writer instead? What if she had watched an SLS launch as a crew embarked on a mission to Mars, had an epiphany, asked her mom how to work on the space program, worked hard in school to get there, then discovered the secret of faster-than-light travel, allowing humans to stretch to the stars? Can we afford to miss that kid because we were busy poking holes in an asteroid, or camping on the ISS with a Russian?

No, Kids. NASA is not shut down and we’re sorry for making it seem like it is. We’re sorry for putting all of your scientific inspiration in boring history books instead of on the evening news or your Google Feed. Some of us are trying really hard to change that, but it isn’t easy. Please don’t give up on space science! It’s really cool!

For Sweden > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 15:49

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No love for robots :(

pauljones > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 15:57

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If there are people in the United States that think NASA is shut down, they are genuinely abject morons. There is literally zero reason to think that NASA is shut down. At all. The shuttle program may be dead, but there have been no shortage of other instants in very, very recent memory in which NASA and its accomplishments have been in the news - even showing up on Fox News.

If you come across someone who genuinely believes that NASA has been shut down, contact the nearest village/town/city. They’re missing their local idiot. If you find an entire village/town/city that genuinely believe, contact the FBI, FDA, CDC, NIH, CIA, NCIS, and possibly the Ghost Busters - because something just ain’t right with that place. Maybe it’s something in the water. Maybe it’s a new brain-killing parasitic disease. Maybe it’s commie pink bastards. Hell, they may even be time travelers from the 24th century, when NASA has been replaced by Starfleet.

Whatever the case may be, that place has serious problems that require intervention. Tread carefully.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 16:04

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Alissa Walker should have been the next Einstein?

JR1 > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 16:17

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You know what makes me incredibly sad? Not a single presidential candidate is talking about NASA

JustAnotherG6 > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 16:25

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I have a buddy from College that works for NASA currently. His Facebook posts are the best.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 16:47

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As a young child and teen, I was the only kid that checked out books on the shuttle, the apollo applications program, and aviation. It was odd to know in my teens what RTLS, MECO, and any other space factoid. I know there are few people in my generation that want to go to Mars and beyond and even fewer mechanical engineers on my campus that want to challenge themselves. When I hear that mars funding is a waste of money, I ignore these people. They won’t comprehend how this will advance humanity as a species that was bound to stay on Earth to a species that can tour the solar system. Space science will never cease to amaze as its technology trickle downs to us and has provided us with great inventions. And to those that think NASA is defunded, then explain how my application for an internship to Armstrong Flight Center was received. If somebody really thinks its defunded, either they think Interstellar is real and they should go find that “secret” hq.

AuthiCooper1300 > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 16:47

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I understand your frustration, but I think it is more complex than just NASA not being able to show off with brilliant missions.

I find it rather more worrying that there is a such huge shortage of students interested in STEM topics, both in the US and in Europe. As you can imagine, fewer youngsters interested in science and technology mean also less interest in places such as NASA (or NASA’s varied programmes and projects, for that matter).

Less “popular” interest in NASA does not help it get better funding either.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 16:51

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I have a NASA lapel pin that I wear on my sportcoat to church on Sundays. I’ve been asked a few times by people if I work for NASA, but I always have to sadly say no, I got a boring history degree instead (I’m planning on going back to school, but that’s another story). Anyway, I’ve never personally heard anyone say they thought NASA was closed. It’s always been more along the lines of “is NASA really doing much anymore?” If those people honestly think NASA was shutdown, they need to get their head checked...

StingrayJake > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 17:21

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I like my iPhone.

Hot Takes Salesman > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 18:34

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That’s why STEM education is so important for my generation, to take the computer and science skills kids would usually apply to video games and take them into an engineering light. And then when there’s renewed interest ramp up the funding. Putting some guys on Mars would help.

Hot Takes Salesman > pauljones 04/11/2016 at 18:36

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It’s in the wa-terr

It’s where it came fro-m

Rock Bottom > For Sweden 04/11/2016 at 19:34

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Lol, I love the robots, they’re just not as glamorous as the human explorers!

Rock Bottom > pauljones 04/11/2016 at 19:38

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I understand your frustration! It’s hard for me to judge what with my personal history and passion, but I encounter it so often... so may people (maybe even a majority of Americans) seriously think it’s shut down and that must mean something! I try really hard not to just assume they’re dumb (even if they are), I really just want to fix this problem. Alas, I am only one man.

Rock Bottom > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 04/11/2016 at 19:39

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Now you’re just being a jerk.

Rock Bottom > JR1 04/11/2016 at 19:39

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RIGHT!?! If I ran, my platform would be this: Everybody gets a space ship and an astronaut helmet!

Rock Bottom > JustAnotherG6 04/11/2016 at 19:42

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All that cool stuff is probably just his highlight reel. I used to walk past a Titan missile every day. It’s just sitting in the parking lot, next to the U-2 and the Orion heat shield. No big deal, right!? Now I get excited when I see a rust free pickup!

Rock Bottom > AuthiCooper1300 04/11/2016 at 19:45

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You hit the nail on the head. If it was more popular (executing high-profile missions), then there would be a bigger push to get more funding. But without that funding, there’s no cash to do those missions. Classic chicken and egg.

Rock Bottom > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 04/11/2016 at 19:49

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It’s shocking how often I hear it. At least once a week. Things were different when I lived in The Bay Area, but I think that’s just because everyone drove past a NASA center right off 101. Here in Detroit, nobody is exposed to it, and it’s not on the evening news (you gotta go search for articles about it). Nobody can remember the last time they saw a shuttle launch on the news, so they just assume it’s kaput :(

Rock Bottom > StingrayJake 04/11/2016 at 19:49

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As well you should! Miniaturized electrical circuits sure are handy (thanks NASA)!

Rock Bottom > Hot Takes Salesman 04/11/2016 at 19:52

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I follow Buzz Aldrin pretty closely (kinda stalker-ish, really) and everywhere he goes he is wearing a t-shirt that says “Get Your Ass to Mars” and he keeps giving speeches saying exactly that. He knows how the game is played, and at our current technology level, going to Mars is the best thing we can do to drum up some interest!

Rock Bottom > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 04/11/2016 at 19:57

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I was that kid reading all the space science stuff too!

Hot Takes Salesman > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 20:04

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Also, didn't he go full badass once and punch some guy on the face?

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rock Bottom 04/11/2016 at 20:45

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Can’t help myself sometimes.

Rock Bottom > Hot Takes Salesman 04/12/2016 at 09:02

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He did! I forgot about that!