Dear Senator Obama,
My name is ----. I served my country in the War on Terror as an intelligence officer and now I serve my country in our pursuit of greater knowledge of our universe as a contractor working on the Constellation Program. I ask that you indulge a brief overview of my story, as I believe it essential to understanding my question. Since I was three years old, it has been my dream to become an astronaut. I believe that there is no higher calling than to push back the boundaries of what we know and where we can explore.
Knowing that a solid education was essential to my goal, I worked hard in primary school, started college at the age of 16, and earned my B.S. in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University. While an undergraduate, I did three NASA internships at Johnson Space Center. After finishing college, I spent nearly three years in DC working as an intelligence officer because I believed that I needed to follow the courage of my convictions and make my contribution to the freedoms I so enjoy as an American citizen.
When the time was right and my dissatisfaction with this administration came to a head, I resigned from government service and went back to school. I earned my M.S. in mechanical engineering from Rice University to both be close to my wife, a medical student here in Houston, and better position myself to get back involved in space exploration.
This May, I accomplished that goal by submitting my Master's thesis and accepting a position working on modeling and simulation for the Constellation Program. I have the honor and privilege of being at the forefront of our nation's future and look forward to playing an integral role in our efforts to return to the Moon and establish a research outpost akin to those on Antarctica.
However, you announced that it is your intention to delay the Constellation Program for at least five years and divert the funds to an education program if elected President. Senator, I honestly do not understand the logic in pitting space exploration and education against each other. In my experience, the two are intertwined and both are vital to our nation's future. As a member of our nation's Senate, you must also know that NASA only receives seven-tenths of a percent of the federal discretionary budget. On the other hand, the Department of Education alone receives approximately five times that. Surely there are more costly and less effective programs to cull from if the funds for your education initiative are needed so badly?
Space exploration has been vital to understanding our place in the universe and our place here on Earth. It has been NASA scientists and satellites that played an unparalleled role in figuring out how the world's climate is changing as a result of human pollution. It has been NASA-funded research that led to breakthroughs in medical imaging and materials science, just to name a few. We can only begin to imagine what new technologies will be developed and fundamental science will be learned as we establish a permanent presence on our nearest neighbor in the Solar System.
Will you reconsider your position on the Constellation Program, or at least consider offering your own proposal for sustained human and robotic exploration of the Solar System? If not, can you explain how you reconcile your stated support for science, technology, and engineering innovation with advocating a policy that will lead to at least a ten-year gap in which the United States will not have the ability to send humans into space? Do you believe that space exploration is a worthwhile endeavor, as I do, and give it the support that I believe is deserved?
Best regards,
-----
Since sending his campaign the letter nearly a month ago, I have had no response other than the standard "We got your letter and we promise someone is looking at it" BS form e-mail. Instead, I've been sent several e-mails a week insisting that the Obama campaign needs my monetary contributions. Screw that. I just sent a request that I be removed from all of their mailing lists with the following explanation.
I sent your campaign a detailed message a few weeks ago explaining my background and my concerns over Sen. Obama's proposed policy to gut space exploration for his education initiative. I have received no actual acknowledgment from anyone in the Obama campaign that my concerns are taken seriously. Instead, I have repeatedly been sent e-mails asking for campaign contributions. So much for the campaign of change!
I have shared my experience with every registered voter I know and many of my friends and colleagues have expressed that they will not vote for Sen. Obama now. I realize that I am just one person, but there are nearly 17,000 full-time NASA civil servants and nearly 40,000 NASA contractors. How many of them does the Obama campaign think will vote for a candidate that has made clear that he doesn't think their work is important? Right now, no one in my household nor any of my colleagues will. As long as Sen. Obama ignores our concerns, that number will only rise.
I guess this means I won't be invited to any of their events they might have here in Texas. :)
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