For far too long, NASA has been the whipping boy of the Beltway--trapped between the VA (the darling of the Right) and HUD (the darling of the Left). NASA is therefore very like an unwanted, handicapped child whose parents gave away the family fortune to televangelists: afraid to ask for anything lest he be called selfish and ungodly, when his need is actually greatest.

No veteran, however well decorated (or not) can tell you where that newly formed tropical storm is, or return Helium III from the moon. No HUD worker will tell you where that next Earth crushing asteroid/comet will come from along the plane of the ecliptic or elsewhere.

A lot of talk has been given to what "the greatest generation" of Americans were. The greatest generation was not the group we call the Founders--since Revolution was in the air all throughout the West during their time and the British Empire was already beginning to lose control over its assets.

Neither was the "Greatest Generation" the WWII generation. Only after Pearl Harbor was attacked did the United States respond--and if the US had stayed out of WWI and left the eurotrash combatants to rot in their own trenches--we would not have had the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which made sure that Hitler, instead of dying a failed drunk in a Berlin back alley, became a threat to the world.

The Greatest Generation of all...was the Apollo Generation.

They put us 50 Years ahead of where we would have otherwise have been. Seven dollars were generated on the ground for every one spent on the space effort--and every cent of every dollar was spent here on the ground giving America the dream that allowed a tangible techinical base to exist and prosper--giving us fruits we use every day: that is something that neither Jimmy Carter nor some blue-plate special from a rear echelon who never so much as got an egg shell wound in K.P. can rightfully claim.

But how do we reward our best and brightest?

We cut their throats.

I was not thrilled about the CEV or some of the other items in NASA that got savaged, especially since 100 ton-to-LEO Heavy-Lift has itself been neglected within NASA. Everyone has capsules these days--we need to work on capabilities no one else has.

Yet the future does not look bright, thanks to sell-outs like Bill Young (R) FL (1-202-225-5961) and Alan Mollohan (D) West Virginia (1-202-225-4172) in the House.

Since it is obvious that all the Beltway gnords care about is 'cost-reduction,' why not go all the way?

To wit, I call for all assets in space to be shut down, at least for a month. If Washington does not believe in supporting the infrastructure needed to support space assets, then perhaps they should not be allowed to utilize them.

Therefore, I call for a "Month Without Space" to be held during Hurricane season maximum. On Sept. 1, 2004, all weather-sats should be shut down, so the first indication citizens on the East Coast have of a Saffir-Simpson Level 5 storm is the tightly wrapped spiral arm bands of its compact eyewall showing up on Nextrad not 20 miles out to sea--an hour from landfall.

Lets see how all the folks who get cable are surprised when their Tvs go dead--seeing that their cable providers get their feed from satellite just like everyone else.

Imagine the savings!

But perhaps this is too harsh, especially since "NASA and the US space program enjoy broad support and interest from the American public, according to the results of a new Gallup survey...More than two-thirds (68%) of the American public say they support a new plan for space exploration that would include a stepping stone approach to return the space shuttle to flight...go back to the Moon and then on to Mars." A majority of Republicans (79%) and Democrats (60%) support such an exploration plan. (from SPX)

Most people understand that even the automated advances we share came from the call for people to go to space--and that sample return missions from distant, heavy moons like Europa will need Heavy-Lift launchers even for automated missions--heavy lifters that would also be most of what is needed to return humanity to the moon.

So, I only call for everyone who lives and works in the Beltway to have their space-related assets shut off from them for a month. No spysats photos, no GPS, no cell-phone with microchips that had been one of many space-developments, at least in part. No weather information, no TV--nothing.

No warning of an impeding asteroid strike that no Joint Strike Fighter or War in Iraq can stop.

Perhaps then, if we would have a real month without space, our excuse for leadership would wake up to the fact that everything they have concerns about pales in significance to the actual advances we have enjoyed from that greatest generation--the APOLLO generation.

Either that, or we can get lucky during that month without space, and actually have an impactor strike the Beltway and kill all those ingrates and undesirables.

We can only hope.

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