I came across an article in New York Times by JOHN SCHWARTZ, titled ‘Destination Is the Space Station, but Many Experts Ask What For.’ No doubt, experts will surely raise questions esp. when it was about to finish by 2004, and most concerned aspect in this regard is the budget. It was to cost about $40 billion, shared by 16 nations, but the ill-fated Columbia catastrophe forced a two-and-a-half-year delay in construction missions raising the price tag $100 billion and the completion date to 2010.

Ok, every one mourned the Colombia disaster including the experts who now raise questions over the need of ISS, who then said these were our heroes who have sacrificed their lives to help humanity to live better and progress.

However, their serious accusations only aim at station’s scientific value. David J. Goldston, the departing chief of staff for the House Science Committee, said in an interview that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration now seemed more motivated by the need to satisfy its commitments to international partners than by any compelling scientific objectives.

Firstly, to draw their attention towards station’s ’scientific value,’ I would like to highlight some of the interesting sciences that are going on the International Space Station.

Of course, spaceflights are risky business and therefore includes lot of money. everybody knows that. Advanced technologies, are necessary to support spaceflights, and we learn new technologies while we are performing science in space.

This includes human research, research of space impact to human body at first place. We now know that humans will be on the Moon, on Mars, and other planets, and the beginning stages of humankind in space is the study of space impact to the human body, and astronauts on board ISS are test subjects in this respect in microgravity.

Medical/biological experiments comprise the largest part of the Russian science program. For example, the research is being done on how the muscles are operating in space, how the bones are functioning in space, how various medications are affecting the human body. All of that will help for research in preparation for long - very long, a many-years’ duration flight in space.

And while we are talking about very long duration flights not to forget that it will be necessary to have food the same as we have on Earth; that’s why they have an experiment which is called Plants that is a study how to grow plants in space.

Also to add to the list of ‘experiments’ called SRS, which is a low-temperature synthesis in space; high technologies that would allow us to develop new materials. In biotechnology, using stem cells for possible development of a vaccination for AIDS treatment is also going on. They are studying ecology of the Earth from four hundred kilometers above and researching on geophysical experiments. And all these experiments to help humanity to live better and progress. Not enough, right!

And now coming to what David J. Goldston, said in an interview.

The International Space Station is an international project and the participating countries are doing a lot for the progress of humanity. The ISS is demonstrating to us how we should work and live together; this is an example of how we coexist in the future. International Space Station is demonstrating a lot for humanity. I believe that a few decades from now that humanity will start working, living as one unified entity, and will be doing everything so that all the people on Earth will live well.

Via: NYTIMES