LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: SHUTTLE FLIGHTS HARM ENVIRONMENT

Dear Editor,

Am I the only person aware of the contradiction in sending the Endeavor Shuttle into space?

The Endeavor is being sent up to observe the earth's environment.

Each time a space shuttle is launched, it destroys .25 percent of the ozone layer (source: "Ain't Nobody's Business" by peter McWilliams). In other words, it would take less than 400 more shuttle flights to eliminate all of the earth's zone. Creating the futuristic space station we've all heard about would require more launchings than our ozone could survive.

Consider also the pollution emitted by the large amount of fuel necessary to launch the space shuttle. This adds to the growth of the ever infamous Greenhouse Effect.

It doesn't make a lot of sense...sending a shuttle up to examine the earth's environment, while wreaking havoc on it in the process.

With all the recent negative media focused on NASA's excessive expenditures and failures, I'm appalled to witness America's forgetfulness and apathy.

The vast budget of NASA could be better spent on preserving our current planet's environment, instead of wasting it on fancy ads trying to convince the American public and Congress that they need more funding.

I, just like everybody else, am curious about what lays beyond our world, but there are more pressing concerns worthy of the taxpayers' money.

Until NASA develops more environmentally sound methods, their increasingly frequent launchings should not be taken so lightly.

To quote Dave Barry, "The Hubble Orbiting Space Paperweight, which was purchased for $1.5 billion from Telescopes-R-Us performed perfectly except for one minor flaw, namely that it would have cheaper to take a regular telescope and put it on top of an 87-mile high pile of $50 bills."

This is an issue that affects us all. Write to your elected representatives and let them know how you feel about your taxes being wasted on the destruction of our planet.

DAVIDA DOUGLAS

Cape Girardeau