OPINION:
Mitt Romney recently emphasized yet another unfavorable contrast between himself and Newt Gingrich, when he said in a debate that he would fire anyone who talked to him about the United States returning to the moon. It is sad to find in someone presuming to lead our nation a total lack of vision about what a return to the moon would mean for our country.
Mr. Romney is one who looks at the ground as he walks. He uses the same argument against space travel that opponents made in the 1960s, namely, why should we send someone to the moon when people are out of work and hungry down here? Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, is a man of vision and looks toward the sky as he walks.
Mr. Romney only sees a moon mission in terms of dollars: If we did it, we would be hundreds of billions of dollars poorer. Mr. Gingrich, as a student of history, knows better.
The space program united all Americans and provided us with a national goal and a team to cheer for regardless of individual economic circumstances. But this unifying effect is not the most important. The moon program was responsible for more technological advances in a shorter period of time than ever before. Thanks to that era, we now have the pocket calculator, computer chips, new medical and manufacturing technologies, and numerous other advancements that benefited humankind.
A new moon program would provide another quantum leap in technology, the benefits of which we cannot even now imagine. Let us be thankful that the previous generation gave no heed to the naysayers. Let us hope the next generation can say the same thing about us.
BOB BAIRD
Ashland, Va.
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