Should NASA Do Mission To Planet Earth?

Forget new crewed missions in space. NASA should focus on saving Earth, op ed, Lori Garver, Washington Post

"After accomplishing this amazing feat, the aerospace community has again and again sought presidential proclamations to go further. President Trump is the fifth president to proclaim we will send humans to the moon and/or Mars within a specific time frame, a decree without a value proposition that has never inspired broad public support nor come close to coming true. NASA remains one the most revered and valuable brands in the world, and the agency is at its best when given a purpose. But the public doesn't understand the purpose of spending massive amounts of money to send a few astronauts to the moon or Mars. Are we in another race, and if so, is this the most valuable display of our scientific and technological leadership? If science is the rationale, we can send robots for pennies on the dollar. In a July Pew Research Center study, 63 percent of respondents said monitoring key parts of Earth's climate system should be the highest priority for the United States' space agency -- sending astronauts to the moon was their lowest priority, at 13 percent ; 18 percent favor Mars."

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