Has NASA performed well in its quest of putting man into space? Or has it failed miserably? Will it be profit along with the strong desire to explore the space that will be the unstoppable driving force which sends a human being into space?
These are some questions we look in this post.
Private Enterprise Has Resulted in Major Inventions Till Now
You should spare a moment and think hard about the force or forces that have pushed technology forward in American Society in the last 100 years. Was it the government which employed the Wright brothers?
As everybody knows, the answer is no. You might have learned in your A Level Physics Tuition classes that Wright brothers carried out research as well as development within a tiny bike shop located in Dayton, Ohio. This area is also called, and rightly so, aviation’s birth place.
Was it the government which funded the research of Thomas Edison? Well, the answer, once again, is in negative. The scientist used his own money to create his famous research lab, called Menlo Park. And this man is regarded by all and sundry as the number one prolific inventor. It was the domain of private enterprise and not government in which the inventions of Thomas Edison were created.
Was it a government lab where man took the first step toward personal computer’s invention? Of course, not. The computer was developed using many different inventions and from fiddling of Steve Jobs (of Apple fame) and Steve Wozniak in a small garage belonging to Steve Job, in a place that is now world-famous and goes by the name Silicon Valley. Tinkering done by these two men resulted in creation of the Apple computer.
Just like the Apple computer was developed within the domain of private enterprise, Microsoft too was developed without any government help or aid. No operating system, at present, is more widely used worldwide than the Windows, which has played a crucial role in giving people all round the world access to information technology. Majority of crucial developments in technological field have occurred not with but without government help.
Why Private Enterprise is Better Suited than NASA to Put Man into Space
More and more people now believe that private enterprise and not a government establishment such as NASA will be the one to explore cosmos by man. One of the main reasons for this is NASA’s strong fear of a mishap or tragedy. Government funding reduces with a mishap. So with more tragedies the funding will reduce more. This cycle of fear of mishap and dependency on continual funding has no end. However, mishaps are part and parcel of the business of exploring space.
There’s an important question which one must ask. And that question is: Who can deal with mishaps better—an agency run by government or private enterprise? The answer is quite easy. If one private establishment fails, someone else will take its place and this cycle is unending. On the other hand, NASA is not only a government agency but it is also not in a competitive market.
As you would have learned in your JC Physics tuition that NASA was the body which had sent Apollo into the space years back. However, today’s NASA is different. NASA has shown the way but private enterprise is better placed to explore the final frontier.
