To the editor: With all due respect to guest contributor Christopher Cokinos, our country can continue funding NASA at its current levels or we can continue funding SpaceX at its ever-increasing levels, but we cannot do both (“To dumbly go where no space budget has gone before,” April 29).

Cokinos quotes Casey Dreier of the Pasadena-based Planetary Society as saying, “This is an extinction-level event for the Earth- and space-science communities …” And he would probably be correct. However, right now I am more concerned with the already present extinction-level events happening to our Earth’s science and its scientists. Yes, I do believe humans yearn for connection to the universe, but right now most are probably yearning for a habitable home base.

Paula Del, Los Angeles

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To the editor: When I was about 9 years old, my father took me to an open house at the former Rockwell International plant in Downey, where we got to view parts of NASA’s space shuttle. I was in awe of the idea of space travel and was told in order to pursue a career in that field, I would need to have a strong math background. As a result, math became my favorite subject. A few years later, I earned a degree in mathematics and had a rewarding career as a high school math teacher.

I often wonder about how many other children my age were inspired to pursue a career in math and science because of the work of NASA. The decision to not invest in NASA hurts economically and does not serve our interests in developing the next generation of STEM professionals.

Jason Y. Calizar, Torrance