Stephen Hawking: The Costs Of Space Exploration Are Steep, But They Are Well Worth It

John Glenn, the first U.S. astronaut, questioned a major portion of President Bush’s vision for space exploration, the plan to return to the moon and build a base there, then to go on to Mars.

Glenn, who later was a senator from Ohio, said this piecemeal approach would involve huge extra costs, compared to launching a rocket that would carry a crew directly to Mars.

Testifying before the House Science and Technology Committee, Glenn said the plan to return to the moon for visits, then to establish an outpost on the moon, and only later to go to Mars is questionable.

This would involve a huge extra cost financially, he said.

Further, this essentially would mean doing enormously complex work such as is done in rocket launches at Kennedy Space Center in the difficult and hostile emptiness of the lunar environment.

A rocket launched from Earth heading to Mars doesn’t have to travel much faster than a rocket that is heading for Mars, Glenn said.

"We need better definition on this" vision for space exploration, he said.

No matter how the exploration program is configured, it will cost huge sums.

But one of the greatest minds, that of Stephen Hawking, said the outlay would be well worth it, with rich returns.

Speaking via a recorded message, Hawking told the House committee that he would "urge further continuation … of the space program."

Yes, it’s expensive, he said. "Going into space is not cheap."

But there always are naysayers, those who question the value of anything risky, he argued. There were those, for example, who considered the exploration of Christopher Columbus, which led him to North America, as "a wild goose chase," Hawking noted.

But there is so much to learn from space, he added. It is vital that leaders of major nations provide the funding required for both programs resolving problems on Earth, and for expeditions heading across the cosmos to find new worlds, Hawkins aid.

As for the commitment to space exploration going to the moon, Mars and beyond, it is critical that the United States take this "first step [toward] spreading the human race out into space," Hawking said.

A British theoretical physicist and mathematics professor at the University of Cambridge, Hawking has been stricken by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and is paralyzed, living in a wheelchair.

A somewhat different view was expressed by Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), who noted that in determining affordability, the U.S. government is running a $500 billion annual deficit that, along with prior deficits, has swollen the national debt to $9 trillion.

But can the United States afford not to press ahead, given that it faces enormous competition in the world?

Norm Augustine, former chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT], noted that China has a very aggressive space program, which Augustine termed impressive.

And, at the same time, to remain competitive, the United States should double or triple its investment in basic research, he said.