By Craig Shirley
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Well, the short and most direct answer is liberalism.
The Apollo program, as envisioned by the great American exceptionalist and anti-communist John F. Kennedy, aimed to beat the Russians to the moon and then go on to the planets and the stars. He frequently emphasized this vision.
This meant not just a single lunar landing but multiple missions.
Manifest Destiny has always been a part of the American ethos. This 19th-century belief held that Americans should spread republican government, freedom, and free markets into the West. The philosophy later expanded to include waterways and oceans, then the skies, and finally the heavens—beginning with low Earth orbit before reaching the moon and beyond.
We easily justify this vision because American Exceptionalism is superior to any other way of life.
Fifty years have passed since the last Apollo mission—the “America” command module and “Challenger” lunar module landed. Astronaut Gene Cernan noted, “We leave as we came, and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.”
However, federal budget cutbacks by liberals in Congress eliminated Apollo 18, Apollo 19, and Apollo 20. These missions had audacious plans, including landing on the dark side of the moon.
Liberals, in their borderline wisdom—just as we were perfecting space missions to the moon—cancelled the program and severely cut NASA’s budget.
They used the “priorities on Earth” argument, which is how they always justify such cuts. Yet, fifty years later, poverty and homelessness persist among us.
In the 1970s, NASA launched one of its most criticized space programs: “Mission to Planet Earth.” It involved sending Skylab into orbit—a giant grain silo where astronauts took increasingly useless pictures of Earth, like weekend tourists visiting the Mall in Washington.
This effort was the ultimate form of naval gazing. Astronauts observed ants in space but in reality, the ants were probably watching the same scene from their own perspective.
The organization also changed its logo, shifting from a retro yet inspirational blue symbol representing American ideals to an antiseptic “NASA” as if it were a sign giving directions in a hospital ward.
Liberals also played a role in the Columbia shuttle disaster when super-frozen insulation smashed into the wing during reentry. Radical environmentalists had previously complained about the insulation (which was safe), claiming it polluted the Everglades.
Fifty years of space exploration have been wasted due to liberals and their hatred of American exceptionalism. However, the false argument that “the sun is setting on America” governing our space program has ended.
A new dawn is cresting for America, with the space program finally back on track because of a renewed American exceptionalism under President Donald Trump.
American patriotism is now fashionable again thanks to him. And we all feel happier as we have left behind the dyspeptic era of Joe Biden, surely the worst president in American history.
Godspeed America! Godspeed our new astronauts!
