THE COMMERCIAL SPACE AGE HAS BEGUN

The Wall Street Journal

  • NOVEMBER 17, 2011

If we’re looking for a way to stimulate our economy, a new space race building on projects like SpaceX is a good place to start.

A Russian spacecraft carrying an American astronaut and two Russians blasted off from Kazakhstan Monday in a flawless launch. The mission? Bring the International Space Station back to full strength. Sadly, now that our shuttles are relegated to museums, we have no way to launch our astronauts into space and must pay the Russians to do it for us.

As ironic as that is considering the history of the space race, hiring the Russians isn’t what hurts me the most. What’s painful is my conclusion that as a people, as a government, and as a country, we don’t seem to care if we can put astronauts into space or not.

How did we get to this sorry state? Where are those days when every American boy and girl dreamed of flying to the moon, Mars, the very stars; when an entire country was energized to set sail on a new ocean? President John F. Kennedy said it best in September 1962: “No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. . . . We mean to be a part of it—we mean to lead it!”

And we did. We put our sweat, intellect, money and the very souls of our astronauts into that marvelous enterprise—and succeeded. Who would have imagined that one July morning in 2011, when the Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center, that America’s manned space program would come to an end?

Sure, we make noises about how we’re going to fly astronauts to an asteroid and build a big new rocket, though we don’t have any real plans or enough money allocated to do either one. Throughout our recent space demise, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has seemed detached and inexplicably serene while his underemployed engineers try to believe that he, the president, and the rest of our elected officials care about spaceflight.

But if they did, would we now have to pay the Russians to take us to the Space Station? The answer is no. Human spaceflight is so far down on their priority list, it doesn’t even have a number.

It is only after accepting this truth that progress can be made. Not to care about spaceflight is dumb for lots of reasons and we need to change that.

Where to start? Short-range, get a president who believes spaceflight is important. NASA is part of the executive branch and goes where the president says; it doesn’t much matter what Congress wants. Next, put passionate and savvy managers in charge of NASA and fire them if they don’t perform.

Long-range, educate the people to understand why spaceflight is important to our economic, social, moral and technical success as a nation. Sending your kids and teachers to Space Camp or the 48 Challenger Learning Centers across the country is a good start. There they can learn about the mathematical and engineering wonders behind Mission Control or join the crew of a simulated orbiting space station.

Fortunately, we’re in fair shape for a space rebound. There’s a miracle of the “God looks after fools, drunks and the United States of America” category called SpaceX, the amazing little California company that can. With a little steady seed money, SpaceX could put the Russians’ antique Soyuz spacecraft out of business and have our astronauts in space very quickly. Independent accountants say SpaceX could beat the Chinese and everybody else on the price per pound to orbit. Talk about jobs! Wouldn’t it be nice to be first again in a multibillion-dollar industry?

NASA is also having success with Rocketdyne’s J-2X upper-stage rocket, which could be the key to deep space missions. We already have some great boosters, including SpaceX’s Falcon 9, and United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V and Delta IV. NASA’s Orion deep space capsule, modified from the Bush administration’s Orion moon capsule, is also a good design. It needs urgency in its schedule.

If it were up to me, I’d contract with SpaceX and other companies to carry us to and from the space station, then put NASA to work on revolutionary designs. I’d look into scaling up the Air Force’s successful X-37b spaceplane, then go after scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) technology that would allow aircraft to reach speeds beyond Mach 12. If we handed that technology to commercial builders, we could travel to London, Tokyo and Beijing in less than an hour. Then we’d all be astronauts.

I’d also want NASA to help design an Aldrin Cycler, a spacecraft that would permanently circle the Earth and the moon. Catch it and see the Lunar Alps. Take a lander and set down, start using the moon’s resources. Spend a little now, make a lot later. What’s a government for if it isn’t funding research and development to make new stuff so we can all make new money? Human spaceflight is in that category. If we’re looking for a way to stimulate our economy today and in the future, a new space race—not relying on the Russians—is a good place to start.

Mr. Hickam, the author of “Rocket Boys” and “Back to the Moon,” is a former NASA engineer. His next novel is “Crater,” to be published in April 2012.

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