Moonshot is a term associated with
a herculean undertaking of epic proportions and/or profound significant. A moonshot typically requires marshalling vast
resources sustained over time to achieve the result. The 20th of July, 2019 commemorating the 50th
anniversary of mankind setting foot on the moon – and returning safely to Earth
– was a moonshot. Reviewing some of the
resources required to accomplish man on the moon helps define a moonshot.
The National Air and Space Administration (NASA)
achieved the goal for the United States to reach the moon. The moonshot began in 1961 and, including the six Apollo space flights following
the successful 1969 Apollo 11 mission, was concluded in 1972 as NASA “shifted
emphasis from manned space exploration-typified by Apollo-to space activities
focused on direct practical down-to-earth benefits…” (Fletcher, 1974 p. 4). The NASA expense to accomplish the moonshot
was about $25 billion, equating to about $146 billion in 2019 (Official Data
Foundation). NASA estimated that the Mercury,
Gemini and Apollo U.S. astronaut missions “employed 400,000 Americans and
required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities” (NASA,
2008). The apex Apollo mission comprised
the three-stage Saturn V rocket with escape rocket and three spacecraft:
Command Module Columbia, Service Module, and two-stage Lunar Module Eagle, with
associated life support, propulsion, propellant, flight control, communication,
experiments and support equipment operating successfully within the space
environment lacking gravity, heat, and atmosphere. There was no precedence and very little
science upon which to base the new moonshot.
For example, creating the on-board compact and lightweight electronic instrumentation
for complex and precise guidance, navigation and control instruction processing
required handmade fabrication of integrated circuits. All hardware, software and personnel required
the highest standards for testing. The enormity
of the Apollo project and associated investment was highly controversial, which
some opposition even labeled as a boondoggle.
In May 1961 the surveyed American indicated that just 33% of respondents
believed that the Apollo program of sending a man to the Moon, was a good
investment of the estimated cost (Gallup Organization, 1961).
There are many moonshot examples that
have been slow to be embraced, though few have reached the level of resource commitment
as did the Apollo program. Economically self-sustaining
nuclear fusion reactors propose to yield more energy output than sustaining input. Quantum computation would rely use quantum-mechanical
qubit superposition and entanglement to compute multiple possible concurrent combinations
of 1 and 0 states, as compared to the serial process of conventional instruction
computing, resulting in significantly increased problem solving and time
savings advantages. Artificial intelligence would endow machines with the
capability to make autonomous cognitive decisions, surpassing individual human
problem solving ability, leading to independent from human forms of action rationalization. The Allied Operation Overlord involving about
14 months of planning culminating with Operation Neptune on 6 June 1944 on a massive
scale which committed about 156,000 Allied troops, 6,939 Allied vessels, and 11,590
Allied aircraft, resulting in about 4,413 dead and over 10,000 casualties (Rank,
2014).
With so many worthy moonshot
programs competing for investment resources a qualifying justification prerequisite
is the return on investment in terms of number of people benefited, impact on
the environment, capital savings, quality and extension of life improvement.
Consider curing cancer as one such worthy moonshot. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI,
2018), cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide; in 2012, there
were 14.1 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths worldwide
with the number of new cancer cases per year is expected to rise to 23.6 million
by 2030; there will be an estimated 606,880 deaths in 2019. Many of us have relatives or friends who are suffering
with – or who have died from – cancer.
The cost in both human morality and economic outlay is not measurable. Against this tide of tragedy, the total NCI appropriated
funds spent on different cancer sites, cancer types, diseases related to
cancer, and research totaled $5.74 billion in 2019. The proposed federal budget request for
fiscal year 2020 totals $4.746 trillion (White House, 2019). Against phenomenal odds America rose to the
challenge (Kennedy, 1962),
We choose to go to the Moon in this
decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are
hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our
energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to
accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the
others, too.
America’s next moonshot should focus
on curing cancer.
References
Fletcher, J. (20 March
1973). 1974 NASA authorization, p. 4. Retrieved from (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015084762734;view=1up;seq=8)
Gallup
Organization (17-22 May, 1961). Poll question: It has been estimated that it
would cost the United States $40 billion -- or an average of about $225 per
person -- to send a man to the moon. Would you like to see this amount spent
for this purpose, or not? Retrieved from https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/2018-07/55088.pdf
Kennedy, J. (12
September 12 1962). John F. Kennedy moon speech - Rice Stadium. Retrieved
from https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm
NASA, (22 April
2008). NASA Langley Research Center’s
contributions to the Apollo program. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/Apollo.html
National Cancer
Institute (27 April 2018). Cancer statistics. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics
Official Data
Foundation (2019). U.S. dollar inflation
calculator. Retrieved from http://www.in2013dollars.com
Rank, S. (2014). D-Day
statistics: Normandy invasion by the numbers. Retrieved from
https://www.historyonthenet.com/d-day-statistics
The White House (11
March 2019). A budget for a better America. Retrieved from
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/budget-fy2020.pdf
U.S. House of
Representatives (1974). Hearings before the Committee on Science and
Astronautics, Ninety-Third Congress, First Session on H.R. 4567 (superseded by
H.R. 7528) (https://www.congress.gov/bill/93rd-congress/house-bill/4567?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%2293rd+Congress+1973+4567%22%5D%7D&s=8&r=2)
