To eliminate space exploration is the same as denying human curiosity and sense of adventure. The human race has always yearned to explore other places. In our earliest days, we simply walked from one place to another. The invention of ships allowed man to cross oceans and traverse new lands. Space travel is just a natural, linear expansion of those early days. There is money enough in America to ease human suffering — it just has to be applied properly. Having followed NASA since the late days of Project Gemini, I applaud those bold men and women who forge new paths in the final frontier. Gus Grissom, who flew Mercury and Gemini missions before dying in the Apollo 1 fire, said it best, “the exploration of space is worth the risk of life.”