Research Paper Week 4

I finally started my rough draft for my research paper on NASA. Unfortunately it is proving to be harder than I thought it would be. This is pretty much the first research paper of this kind that I have ever done. It is hard for me to incorporate quotes from my sources. Because of this, I have to really stop and think when I'm writing my paper. I have to actually grab quotes and form them to what I'm talking about. But once I get used to using the quotes, I feel like it will get easier to write, because it will give me more things to talk about. Since my sources involve everything from the history of NASA, to what will be happening in the future, I will probably end up going in a linear path, so that I can show the progression of the program, and how it has evolved since its start up.

Research Blog Week 3

This is the third weekly update on my research paper. As of now, I have finished my annotated bibliography. With this, I found six sources, and summarized them as well as telling how they would be good for my research paper. I have not started my research paper yet, but I am certainly thinking about how I will go about it. Because I have finished my annotated bibliography, I have all of the sources I need in order to write my paper. My sources are all academic sources with long articles that I can pull many ideas and quotes from. My sources range from giving a historical background of the space program, to why it has declined in the past twenty years, to what the future is looking like. I believe that by explaining all of these things, I can give the argument that the shuttle program was retired at the right time. With a recession and lack of interest in the United States, it just was not desirable to continue. Also, there are a number of private companies that are very close to sending up commercial space ships which will provide astronauts with the ability to get into space and the international space station if needed. The company SpaceX is actually planning on launching a ship in December, and they were going to dock on the International Space Station, but Russia decided that it would not be appropriate. This is because the ship has never been into space, and they do not trust that it will be one hundred percent safe.

Research Paper Week 2

This is another weekly update about our research paper. Our annotated bibliography is actually due tomorrow, so I figured I would just write about that since it is on the same topic. For our annotated bibliography we had to find six sources and summarize them and tell how they would solidify our argument. My topic is about whether it was right for the government to make NASA retire the space shuttle program. At first, I whole heartedly thought that it was not right for them to retire the shuttle program. Their reasoning was that the costs were way too high, the technology was outdated, and there was a lack of interest in the program. I found myself being stubborn and not wanting them to stop the missions. Especially after I went down to Cape Cod for STS-135, the last space shuttle launch, that was in July. No matter how many launches I watched on YouTube, there was no feeling like seeing it with my own eyes. But once I saw the facts and read articles, I reluctantly find myself feeling that it was the right time to retire the program, but not necessarily for the money. Yes, it costs way too much money to do keep doing, but not enough to make a big dent in the budget deficit. I agree that the shuttles were starting to get somewhat outdated and risky. Plus, there are many private companies that are going to start sending commercial spacecraft into space within the next few years. That is all.

Research Blog

I have decided to write about the governments decision to shut down the largest part of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the manned shuttle missions. Though I haven't done a large amount of research, I already know that it will be harder than I thought to do an annotated bibliography. The hardest part is actually finding scholarly resources. Sometimes I will think they are scholarly and they turn out not to be. Once I find a good scholarly source, though, it is pretty simple. You have to read the article and summarize it. Also, you have to write about how it relates to your research paper.
Also, I have figured out that just finding sources on the internet will be kind of hard. Though most books are digital these days, there are still a good amount that are only print and that you have to find in the library. Though it probably seems old fashioned, it is definitely something to consider. Another source is talking to or interviewing  a person. Considering we are in college, it would make sense to find a professor that it in the field you are talking about. They can provide you with original information that no one else has access to, making your paper even more original.
I think the biggest struggle for me is procrastination. I have trouble starting on things super early. In the next few days I will have to lock myself in a room in the library and not leave until I have finished this paper, because if not, I'll put it off until Wednesday night and it will be absolutely horrible.