Think back to 1960s America: Every day there was something new in the news. A new space race development, a new potential energy source discovered through advancements in space technology,a new method of powering vehicles, all with the moniker "of tomorrow" attached to them. The development and advancement of the space program not only in our country, but in most parts of the world was a priority for all of mankind at this time. The stars were our destination. Skip forward to 2015, where nearly every promise by a president regarding the country's goals for further development of new space related technology has either been drastically changed or unenthusiastically pushed to the side in favor of more "important spending." I should clarify that no part of this article is meant to be reminiscent of a conspiracy theorist, or "whistleblower," but rather to simply raise some specific concerns regarding the future (and potential fate) of government funded space programs. The adverse affect this lack of interest could have on mankind as a whole in the near future is worth considering.

To begin with, it would be naive to state or even insinuate that the opinion of the space program and space developments was even moderately high during the '60s. In fact, the public opinion of continuing lunar exploration never reached higher than 50% during the entire Apollo mission era, which put the first men on the moon in 1969. And yet, the public was still given things to think about, to dream about, for the future based primarily around humanity's first steps beyond Earth and into space. This was done simply because that is what was viewed as relevant at the time; the "Land of Tomorrow" that companies everywhere would predict with their newest products had to certainly look appealing during the Golden Age of Futurism in the United States and around the world. But as years went on and more and more missions were sent into space, it seemed as though interest in the subject began to slowly dwindle as less and less "relevancy" came out of new space discoveries.

Of course, as the interest began to decrease, so too did funding for NASA, and other government funded space programs, as years and decades progressed past this golden age of space exploration. As it stands today, the running budget of NASA in it's entirety (that is, the nearly 60 years it has been operating under the U.S. Government) does not even eclipse the annual bank bailout budget provided by the U.S. Government to federal banks across the country. So, to clarify, the sum of money added up over the 57 years NASA has been around does not even pass up a sum given out annually to something "more relevant" in bank bailout funds (See: NASA vs. Bank Bailout). This is part of where frustrations arises, as the most common statement made by the government when inquired about potential costly but rewarding developments in space technology is simply: "we cannot afford the funds necessary at this time". The answer should instead be "we can afford this, but it is simply not relevant enough to warrant the cost, so we are going to use the funds elsewhere". It worries me that, because of its budget, NASA continues to become less and less. It will eventually become irrelevant in a time which could have become something close to a vision of the future in the 1950's and 60's, but never had, because it became less interesting and relevant to those who choose how much to give in order for these developments to happen.

I have followed the developments of NASA and their planned advancements for many years now simply out of interest in the subject. While some of the more costly developments require some technological advancements, a multitude of these developments are able to be made now. Some of these could theoretically be able extend our physical reach in space (Such as: the ARES program developing and testing a heavy launch vehicle which could eventually serve as a platform for a manned Mission to Mars). However, these developments have either been pushed back or cancelled, simply due to a lack of funding for any further developments. This comes in spite of the most recent presidential administration promising funding for the development, and testing of this very same project nearly 7 years ago, before transferring all funds to a cheaper project (See: Constellation). I still, of course, like to look up at night and think of a time in which manned space exploration and long-distance travel could be a probability and not a possibility, but it has become increasingly difficult to consider these things happening in my lifetime. Many of the people in a position capable of doing something about it simply won't, because they don't see it as immediately relevant. In thought and in essence, we as people have all but stopped dreaming about the stars.