Curiosity Underscores the Vital Role of Government-Funded Research

By Mera McGrew

Applause echoed through the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory just after 10:30 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday, August 5. “Touchdown confirmed,” said engineer Allen Chen. “We’re safe on Mars.” Chen was referring to the successful landing of the NASA rover, Curiosity, on Mars.

At a time when fundamental research and exploration budgets are being slashed, this recent Hollywood landing is a reaffirmation of American ingenuity. But why limit this brain muscle to space? The reality is that much of the game-changing creativity and engineering that has propelled Curiosity to Mars could also be used to better understand the world’s Ocean, whose depth and diversity remain largely unexplored.

“I wouldn’t take a penny away from the space program,” said ocean advocate, National Geographic explorer-in-residence and Mission Blue founder Dr. Sylvia Earle. “But it just makes sense that there should be at least equal commitment to this part of the universe. It is our home and we are neglecting it.”

The reality is that at a time when the world’s ocean and its fragile ecosystems are facing local and global threats, crucial funding supporting fundamental research is being cut in Washington. Case in point is the 2013 federal budget, which slashed funding for NOAA’s National Undersea Research Program (NURP).

Programs set to lose funding as a result of this cut include the Hawai’i Undersea Research Laboratory, which operates two of the world’s eight human occupied submersibles capable of diving deeper than 1500m (the Pisces IV and Pisces V submersibles). In addition, as we’ve previously reported, the Aquarius Reef Base, the world’s only functioning undersea laboratory, is also set to lose funding.

Aquarius has an operational budget of $3 million per year. The amount seems trivial compared with the $2.5 billion it cost to get Curiosity to Mars. “If [the Aquarius budget] were 3 billion dollars, people would probably take notice and think that it has got to be important, but it is only 3 million dollars,” said Dr. Earle. “That is only 2 cents a year for every person in the United States.”

Cuts to the 2013 federal budget are not limited to ocean exploration. In fact, NASA is set to have its lowest level of funding in four years and plans to see a 20 percent cut within the Planetary Science division. What these cuts in the budgets of NASA and NOAA mean for the future of space programs and ocean exploration is still not entirely known.

If anything, Curiosity landing on Mars underscores the vital role of government-funded research, whether it is to explore the far reaches of space or the depths of our immediate oceans.

Top photo: NASA