‘Humans in Space’

In your editorial (Jan. 30), “Humans in Space,” you rightly point out the need to continue the manned space program. However, I believe the time has come to end the space shuttle’s role as a public relations vehicle.

In recent months there has been a senator, a congressman, and now a teacher included with the crew, and the reason for their inclusion seems principally to have been to stir public interest in what were becoming routine flights.

Surely you did not have Sen. Jake Garn (R.-Utah) in mind when you cited the need for man in space to “evaluate changing conditions and make split-second decisions based on incomplete or contradictory information.”

Astronauts repairing satellites in orbit and up-close photographs of Uranus provide ample evidence of the importance of space exploration. They fire the public’s imagination while adding to the storehouse of human knowledge. Sending a senator to circle the globe merely provides a human interest story.

Let us send scientists into space, not school teachers. Hindsight shows that we needlessly risked a life that had an important, earthbound, purpose.

KEITH GAYHART

Los Angeles