Another suggested topic.
I'm excited about Curiosity landing on Mars, but in a way, it's also disappointing. I remember watching the space shuttle go up as a kid and being so excited about the possibilities. Only somewhere along the way, the United States lost its commitment to space exploration.
Men landed on the moon in 1969, but here we are 43 years later and we've gone backward, not forward. Instead of returning to the moon, apparently we were content to orbit the Earth. What happened?
As a child, I imagined we'd be landing men on Mars by 2012, not a mere scientific probe. Don't get me wrong, I think the probe is cool and I'm excited to learn what it reports back, but instead of wasting money on ridiculous pork barrel projects like the bridge to nowhere, couldn't we as a nation have invested in science and outer space?
Mars happens to be an enormously fascinating planet--or at least I think it is. I wanted to watch men walk on the moon live on television and I'm beginning to doubt it will happen. My one hope is that the private sector is starting to get involved in space. I believe they're already selling tickets for space flights. Now if the private sector would focus on a Martian manned mission....
