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!