Campus Voices: 50 years after John Glenn and Friendship 7

Most Panthers know alumnus Paul McCall as #12, the quarterback who led FIU football from 2005-09. A double graduate of FIU with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, McCall is currently working on his Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He is an aspiring astronaut. FIU News asked McCall to write a first-person piece reflecting on the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic flight and offering his assessment of the future of U.S. space exploration. 

February 20, 2012, marks the 50^th anniversary of the launch of Friendship 7, the most fitting of names for the mission that made astronaut John Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth. Freedom 7, in which Alan Shepard became the first American in space, occurred only nine months earlier. These first steps toward space exploration were not attributed to happenstance. The same month that Freedom 7 returned to Earth, President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress prioritizing a national commitment “of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” The technological, economical and exploratory accomplishments that followed are simply unbelievable.

NASA, as well as many other government agencies, has had to deal with significant budgetary restrictions. Cutting NASA funding seems like an easy decision – after all, we’ve been there, done that. Many are of the opinion that it’s time to move on to the next challenge. I disagree.

Space exploration goes to the heart of basic fundamental questions that we as a society have pondered. What is our role among the universe? How has our planet and solar system become what we now know as home? Further space exploration may help us gain insight into these questions and, in the end, a better understanding and appreciation of what we have here on Earth.

McCall took part in a Mars surface simulation in Utah in 2010.

I believe so strongly in space exploration that I’m training to become an astronaut. I recently submitted my NASA astronaut application. I won’t learn until this summer whether or not I’ve made the initial cut. In the meantime, I’m currently working with an organization called Astronauts For Hire (A4H), a non-profit whose principal service is to recruit and train qualified scientists and engineers for the rigors of spaceflight. The idea is to train A4H members as professional astronaut candidates who can assist researchers, payload developers and spaceflight providers with mission planning and operations support. Thanks to funding provided by the Florida Space Grant Consortium, I’ll soon be undergoing space-flight centrifuge training, hypoxia training,  and spatial awareness and adaptability training related to space-flight environments. The training will take place at the Nastar Center in Southampton, PA, and the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.

2013 federal budget

Just last week, President Barack Obama unveiled his proposed 2013 federal budget. It includes cuts of $300 million for planetary exploration. Cuts were expected due to the current economic situation, but a decrease of this size for planetary exploration is not ideal. According to some researchers, the alignments of Earth and Mars in 2018 would yield a “sweet spot” for another mission to the red planet, so it may not be wise to rule out future key missions. I believe that research into technologies and propulsion systems that will allow astronauts access beyond low-Earth orbit, as well as more cost-effective robotic missions, would make Martian, Lunar and asteroid exploration a practical and feasible pursuit.

On the plus side, the president’s proposed budget more than doubles funding for the commercial space program, from $406 million to $830 million – a welcomed increase.

‘We find ourselves in a time of no U.S.-manned access to space’

NASA research and development (R&D) has had a positive impact on our economy. No less than three independent research groups studying long-term macroeconomic impacts of the Apollo program and, concurrently, the first 20 years of NASA, have all reached that conclusion. The industrial and technological advances of the semiconductor and computer industry in the late 1940s and 1950s were greatly aided by government space and defense programs.

While the numbers confirm the return on investment, I believe there is an important point that is being overlooked in the conversation. Progress made during the first 10 years of NASA can be attributed to the committed and determined effort of the American people in direct response to the leadership of the day. Three-and-a-half years after Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which established NASA, we successfully sent a man around the Earth. Seven years later, the American public was dazzled by the first images of a man on the moon. These types of advances should continually be expected from a program that captivates the imagination and passion of so many.

With the end of the shuttle program, we find ourselves in a time of no U.S.-manned access to space. The space program needs a vision, a purpose, a concrete goal. The precursor to substantial and sustainable achievement is simple, mission-related visionary leadership from the top down. Indeed, the truest and most righteous objective of any human effort is to build something from which future generations will benefit – on all levels.

Most students today are of a generation that has never seen a man on the moon, and maybe never will. The accomplishments of the human race throughout the early years of NASA never cease to inspire and motivate. These forward-looking goals were sustenance for the generation of scientists, engineers, pioneers and dreamers that followed. Andrew Carnegie said, “Set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”  That’s what the space program needs.