So, the question is this. Should America return to the moon? We are currently in a tough economy, and the government focus has been to provide support to various financial institutions to help the credit market for businesses and families. It would seem obvious that we should at least put off plans for another space mission and instead pull all of our resources to tackle the immediate economic problem, but this conclusion is short-sighted considering that some countries are moving ahead to put an astronaut to the moon in the near future.

We should look at the American space program as an investment. Yes, it is an expensive investment, but it provides many of the technological advances that continue to make America competitive in various sectors. As such, we will provide resources for our scientists to make critical experimentations that will advance their research in their fields. This knowledge will trickle down to the younger generations in which we will see inspirations for the youth to pursue advanced natural science educations proliferating as American scientific success ring in children’s years. The space program draws curiosity to the young minds, because space is still a vast area that is full of unknowns and imaginations.

Increased investment on the American space program also provides jobs within the program and also greater employment opportunities from other companies that have government contracts with the program. The expanded space program can provide critical jobs to the highly educated as the country face layoff across all industries. A return to the moon means high quality job creation.

Now, this is a long term investment, and many of the technological advances from the past space programs have resulted in further American innovation today. The critics against this investment are stuck in a single perspective of short term outlook. I agree that expanding the space program would not take care of our current problems today, but I am looking at the future. Next stop: Mars?