Techpreneurship: Why Space Exploration Matters

Jeff Amerine

Techpreneurship, with Jeff Amerine

(Jeff Amerine is an IA advisor, entrepreneurship educator, and officer with the University of Arkansas Technology Licensing Office. Each Thursday, his Techpreneurship blog will appear in INOV8. Drop him a line in comments.)

Public, private, or not at all?  A serious debate rages over the future of NASA and U.S. space exploration in general.

For those my age and older, we remember the glory days of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.  We grew up glued to the television watching every launch, every mission report, and every ocean recovery.  We dreamed about what we might do some day.  Could Mars be far off? Travel beyond the solar system, maybe?  Anything was possible, and many of us wanted to be part of it.  It was a big dream, a truly pioneer-driven American dream, something beyond the petty concerns of the moment, and something much greater than any of our individual interests.

Many of us remember exactly where we were on July 20th, 1969, when Apollo 11 reached the moon and Neil Armstrong took that first small step.  I was on a camping trip with my folks in Maine, in a Starcraft camper, on an unseasonably cold snowy night, listening on an old AM radio to every move the lunar landing module made…

JFK’s bold vision had been fulfilled in less than 10 years.  Amazing!  Yet no surprise.  U.S. scientists, engineers, and astronauts were the envy of the world.

We all had high hopes for the shuttle program.  It would be the next step into space, building on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. It could lead to a permanent presence in space, couldn’t it?  I remember the first shuttle launch on April 12th, 1981.  I was a freshman (plebe) at the U.S. Naval Academy.  Wow, was I proud and amazed the day the shuttle successfully touched down after that first mission.  Who knew what wonders this program would uncover?  Several of my classmates have been shuttle astronauts and engineers — living the dream that started in those days of wonder as Apollo raced to the moon.

Sadly, the shuttle program became little more than a bus trip to near-Earth space and not much else.  It didn’t serve as a springboard to Mars and beyond, as we had hoped.  Now, we stand at a crossroads.  Will we dream big dreams again?  Will we make space exploration a priority?  Will we chart a course for Mars and beyond?  Or will we simply begin a long, demoralizing descent toward self-pity, and ”what’s in it for me” entitlement?

Much is at stake.  In my view, a serious big-vision program needs to be driven by a re-energized NASA with commercial partners, both large and small to solve the many tough problems that will stand in our way.  One can only imagine what new energy, materials, electronics, software, and biomedical innovations would flow from a truly renewed BIG vision for U.S. space.

The President wants to relegate much of the heavy lifting to startups and small private space companies.  Am I the only one that finds this particular administration position ironic, given recent events?

Here’s an excerpt from today’s Wall Street Journal that frames the issue:

The White House believes NASA’s current projects are too expensive and will take too long to deliver. Mr. Obama is betting that private enterprise can fill the gap—carrying astronauts and cargo to the space station—until a resurgent NASA can deliver more advanced space vehicles.

But lawmakers, industry officials and scientists say they fear that for the first time since the glory days of the Apollo moon landings, the U.S. will end up without a clear plan, destination and timetable for sending astronauts deeper into the solar system.

At stake is more than national pride. Losing the lead in space has national-security and industrial consequences. Such industries as shipping, airlines and oil exploration depend on orbiting satellites to gather and send essential data. TV signals, cell phones, ATMs, some credit card machines and many Internet connections rely on space technology. Recent estimates peg global civilian and military spending on space and space-related technologies at more than $260 billion annually.

Techpreneurs, on this one we need a big, shared dream we can all rally around.  One of my favorite quotes comes from Disney’s Lion King, as a spirit Musafa said to his son Simba,

You are more than what you have become.

America, we are more than what we have become!  Let’s dream BIG, and let’s go back to space the right way!

Launch your comments when ready….10-9-8-7-6…..

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