Is NASA Coming Back?

Is NASA Coming Back?

NASA, Europeans uniting to send spaceship to moon 

For over one and a half years NASA has stopped its shuttle missions.  But now it might be on the comeback.  NASA is teaming up with the European Space Agency to get astronauts back out into space.  The new project is named Orion.  Orion was previously part of NASA’s Constellation program which involved lunar bases and lunar studies, but President Barack Obama cancelled Constellation.  Orion, however, has been brought back out of the Constellation mission and put on a mission of its own.  The Orion missions are all lunar oriented, and right now consist of mainly lunar fly-bys.  Upcoming missions scheduled include an unmanned mission in 2017 and a manned mission in 2021.  Europe and NASA will be a collaborating force in this project.  Europe will provide the propulsion and power compartment for the crew capsule, while NASA will be providing decommissioned space shuttle engines for the service modules on the Orion spacecraft. 

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s human exploration chief, acknowledges that getting to the point in 2017 where they will be able to launch is going to be challenging.  He himself said, “I’m not 100 percent comfortable putting Europe in such a crucial role.  But I’ve never been 100 percent comfortable with spaceflight,” he noted. 

Europe’s total contributions add up to around $600 million.  Is it worth it?  Is it worth sending astronauts back out into space?  Should NASA go ahead with the plan to team up with Europe to get their space program back in the air?  Or is it just a big waste of time and money for both ends?  Should NASA have just gone along with what President Obama ordered and stopped sending shuttles into space?

I for one am all for NASA getting back in the game.  Ever since I was a kid I loved space exploration.  It was fascinating!  I think it’s great that NASA is getting back into space exploration, even if they are now working with Europe.  I say that working with Europe to get back into orbit was a good move by NASA.  If they aren’t getting any more federal funding, then they might as well team up with someone else to keep the program alive.  That’s my stand point on it all, but I would like to hear what you have to say.  Comment as to what you think!

Priest Is Planning to Defy the Vatican’s Orders to Stay Quiet

Priest Is Planning to Defy the Vatican’s Orders to StayQuiet

“I refuse to be terrified into submission.”  These are the words of Rev. Tony Flannery, an Irish Catholic Priest in Dublin, Ireland.  The Vatican asked Fr. Flannery to create, sign, and publish a statement which said he agreed with many things that were contrary to his beliefs.  Some of the things that he would agree to include that fact that women shouldn’t be ordained as priests and that he would follow all of the church’s teachings on matters such as homosexuality and contraception.  Being ejected from the Vatican last year, publishing such a document would allow him to be readmitted into the Vatican ministry.  However, Fr. Flannery believes that such a statement is against all the he believes. 

The Vatican had written a letter to Fr. Flannery’s superior ordering him to remove Fr. Flannery from his ministry and to ensure he did not publish any more articles in religious publications.  Fr. Flannery had been, in the past, writing articles and books that caused people to think and consider things that are often times considered controversial.  But now, the Vatican is asking him to recant all that he has said and believes. 

One specific article that the Church has asked Fr. Flannery to recant is one published in 2010 in an Irish religious magazine called Reality.  He said that he didn’t believe that our current priesthood originated with Jesus and that Jesus did NOT designate a specific group of his followers to act as priests.  He said that instead it was a select group of people after Jesus that gave themselves authority and interpreted the Last Suppers in a way that would fit their own needs.  Fr. Flannery claims that the Vatican wants him to affirm that the church was instituted by Christ, the church has a structure of power that was given to it by Christ to remain permanent, and that the bishops are the successors of the apostles. 

Fr. Flannery is now threatened by “canonical penalties” for his view that can be seen as heresy.  These penalties include excommunication from the church. 

I believe that this situation really doesn’t have a good solution.  If the Vatican excommunicates Fr. Flannery for speaking such beliefs, it could be seen as morally wrong for suppressing one’s speech and beliefs.  But if they let him keep teaching these beliefs, they are risking heresy to be spread and allowing Catholics to be taught ideas contrary to what the church teaches.  But what do you think?  Is it right for the Vatican to force Fr. Flannery to recant his beliefs?  Or is Fr. Flannery justified in speaking his own opinion of the church?  For those who read this and are Catholic, this is something you might want to think about.  Who is right in this situation?  Who is justified and who is in the wrong?

About Me

About Me

My name is Nick.  I am a sophomore in high school.  I am an avid tennis player; I can’t get enough of it.  I love playing tennis.  I am also, or at least I consider myself, academically inclined and I do well in school, maintaining a constant 4.0.  I enjoy art, which is something my peers might not know about me.  I find joy in just simply drawing and sketching.  Personality-wise, I am a quiet and reserved person.  I keep my thoughts to myself and would rather listen to you talk than talk myself.  I do not fit the stereotypical lazy teenage boy.  I am constantly doing things and I have a need to be organized.  I like to have things set in a plan that I can count on and I like to do things logically and efficiently.  Finally, I am a perfectionist at heart.  Many people know this of me, and I undoubtedly show it.  For me, something can always be better, can always be improved, and I strive to do that.  I try to improve upon every aspect of my life.  So that’s me in a nutshell.  Like me or hate me, you can’t change me.