Posts Tagged ‘technology’

A Toast to the Shuttle Program, to the men and women who flew to humankind’s farthest reaches, to the men and women who gave up their lives pushing the boundaries of human experience.

A Vote for more space exploration! The human spirit is fed by exploration of the unknown, and a deeper delving into the mysteries of creation. Space is the next horizon for us – the place we can see, but can’t explore yet. A place where imagination, perseverance, sacrifice, will open new understandings of the universe and ourselves – if we dare to look.

 

The biggest objections tend to be around budget: how can we spend money on that when our schools are in disarray and poverty is rampant and, and, and… If we were to stop spending money on space today, none of those problems would be fixed. People try every trick in the book to pay as little tax as possible, then complain about the lack of services. People don’t vote – or don’t educate themselves about candidates before they vote – and then complain about how money is being spent. Giving up space exploration means giving up a part of the human spirit, but it also means giving up a direct means for technological innovation. All sorts of technology has come from space: Cordless power tools came from the Apollo Program , the winglets on the wingtips of airplanes , suits for firefighters , and many more .

I have been watching the shuttles my entire life; I watched the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster from my living room in San Jose when I was six; I spent hours with NASA TV’s shuttle mission coverage streaming in a corner of my computer screen; I watched the Space Shuttle Atlantis land earlier today and I was surprised at how sad I felt.

Fortunately the private sector is off and running. Virgin Galactic spawned from Burt Rutan and Scaled Composite’s brilliance continues to move forward . There are a wealth of new conventional craft as well.

I still dream of looking out of a window onto the earth floating below…