After what looked like a successful launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, NASA has abruptly grounded the shuttle fleet because of a large chunk of insulating foam that broke off the solid rocket booster and nearly clipped Discovery, nearly an exact repeat of the tragic incident that doomed Columbia and its crew.

So, after almost a billion dollars invested in improving the shuttle fleet and making it once again safe for America to return to space, it has all been proven to have been in vain.

Isn’t it time to realize that the space program has been going in the wrong direction for the last thirty years? Haven’t government officials, NASA, and the various administrations realized that where we were headed in the late 60’s and early 70’s is where we should have been headed all along? By continuing to focus on an obviously design limited system, NASA has prevented itself, and thus, the entire human race, from the kind of exploration that we are made for.

The space shuttle fleet being grounded because of a recurring problem with the 30 year old design of an orbital laboratory has given me insight into what the American space program has consisted of - complacency, beaurocracy, and a complete lack of vision.

The main functions of a republican form of government should be to provide for public transportation and protection, and to fund exploration beyond the current frontier. If Thomas Jefferson hadn’t purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, the United States would still be relegated to the east coast. If Spain hadn’t granted Christopher Columbus the money to fund his exploration across the Atlantic Ocean, we may still be stuck in Europe. Human nature is to explore, and however expensive that may be, government’s PURPOSE is to encourage and fund worthy exploration programs to expand our horizons.

That is why it is time to seriously begin investing in the future. It is time to FULLY FUND NASA. It is time to fully support a new initiative to develop a working human exploration program beyond the gravitational field of Earth. And the only way to do this is to get private companies involved in it. We need to put out for bids for:

1. A Ground to Orbit vehicle that will be able to take off from the ground like a regular airplane, deploy solid rocket boosters, and gain orbit to dock with the International Space Station.

2. An excursion vehicle that docks with the ISS and allows crews to leave Earth orbit to go to places like the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

3. The excursion vehicle would have a landing module that would be reusable, dockable, and landable on surfaces such as the Moon and Mars.

It is beyond time for the political wrangling over NASA funding to stop, and for TRUE innovation to begin.