(By Adam Andrzejewski, RealClear Wire) The State Department’s Mission to India will spend $35,000 on a Space Experiential Learning Center for Indian children, according to a grant notice.
The grant is for the American Center in New Delhi, and is looking for a non-profit, educational institution, or international organization to host a space-focused learning center for 60 Indian children over the course of a year.
The center “will operate by utilizing state-of-the-art space-related equipment and well-planned and resourced experiences, while offering a program which promotes capacity building through the acquisition of basic science knowledge, astronomy, and focused space science education,” according to the grant notice.
The objective of the yearlong program is to “develop a deeper understanding of space science application,” though the overall diplomatic goal is to “build upon the deepening ties between the United States and India in critical technology fields, space exploration, and existing educational exchange efforts.”
The eventual grantee will have an easy time performing this grant, because the notice stipulates that the physical space and all required infrastructure like science equipment will be provided by the American Center.
While this may seem like a small sum of money compared to other grants, there is no reason why the U.S. should be funding space camps halfway across the world. Many American children are fascinated by space, too, and it would likely be far cheaper to send them to space camps with government assistance.
America can’t afford to fund programs like this that aren’t critical to anyone’s welfare and have ill-defined strategic goals, yet they continue to eat up tax dollars in almost every country in the world.
