And now.. for something completely different

[hkellick]

I do want to talk about the near breakup.. but later.. after it doesn't feel so close and so.. difficult.

So.. something completely different.

I went off to D.C. Saturday, to just spend some quality time by myself, something I probably haven't done an awful lot of, lately, for one reason or another. I vow, from this point forward, to find SOME way to spend some truly quality alone time, instead of me just vegging in front of the computer (which CAN be neat, but... isn't really quality, I don't think.): movies, concerts, museums... stuff like that.
It doesn't have to be every week, but... at least twice a month, I think.
I don't think I realized how much I missed it until there I was and.. I was enjoying myself and.. yeah.

ANYWAYS...
So I was in D.C. yesterday, off at the air and space museum. And, I somehow managed to fall in line with a tour. The tour was going through, at least the portion I caught, the space program.. from Apollo 11 (I caught them around the rocket), then the moon lander, and then the space shuttle.
Also, I caught a really crappy, but sorta thought-provoking five minute play about the Wright Brothers.

And it made me wonder..
100 years ago, two brothers from Ohio proved to the world that man COULD fly. Sustained, controllable flight.
35 years ago, two men "touched the face of god" by taking a scientific excursion to and onto the moon.

What's next? What unexplored fronteir do we go towards next? Mars?

I guess I feel that's what our generation is missing. You can certainly "blame" it on JFK, but our parents generation wanted very much to explore, to push back the unexplored fronteirs.

To our credit, my generation, our generation, did push back the boundaries of space, making instant communication between different ends of the planet not just some daydream, but a reality. I suppose that we CREATED a new reality to explore, the world wide web, the internet, the information superhighway.

But... the Internet doesn't inspire DREAMS the way that flying.. or going to the moon does.

What little kid dreams of being a cybernaut?

It's always been disappointing to me to know that NASA has all but given up on any programs to get us past the confines of the international space station. We've even decided to give in on Hubble. I love Hubble. Hubble has given us the chance to truly see the awesomeness of space. And yet.. we've decided to give that up, as much, as Kristen mentioned, because of the cost of fixing it, as because of Columbia and now NASA requires that all space shuttles be able to dock with the space station.. just in case.

I think America needs to dream again. Give us something else to concentrate on besides war and hate and terrorism.

Mars or Bust. Mars by 2050.

Comments

[peachtess.livejournal.com]

America can't dream while its in middle of a war and going deep into debt every month. America can't be america while Bush is president..Hubble telescope is going because Bush doesn't want to give NASA the money to put a new battery in. Thats right..a new battery..thats all it needs. NASA even has one ready. They just have to get the money to put a spacecraft into orbit so an astronaut can spacewalk out to it and swap the batteries. Many have volunteered to do it also. Lets not forget that the religious right doesn't like the hubble telescope..its proven so much from the bible untrue..not that they will ever admit it aloud. Is it any wonder that are country is slipping down that slippery slope towards becoming a 2nd world nation? I just hope it can pull out in time.
You should read the article (http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-02-18/cols_ventura.html) phinnia posted. Very disturbing.

[lite.livejournal.com]

This is partly true.

As I said, and I tend to believe him, during the tour, the tour guide mentioned that one of the other major reasons is Columbia. After Columbia, NASA wanted to make sure that EVERY Shuttle going up could dock with the International Space Station. The reasoning is obvious, given Columbia. In case something should happen up there, they actually have a chance to get the astronauts down alive.

Unfortunately, though, Hubble and the ISS are in different orbits and I guess the Space Shuttle doesn't have the fuel to fly to both Hubble and the ISS and still make it back to Earth, so it's one reason or the other.

I believe this reasoning. I'm sure there is some of what you said too, and some of what Kristen mentioned, continuing to fix the Hubble time and time again IS expensive and NASA, with it's short budget, DOES Have to pick and choose.

I'll look at the article when I can.

Believe it or not, I don't believe America is going to become a 2nd world nation. Yes, it is very.. disappointing to know that the religious right are everpresent, rather prevalent and have the president's ear.. but everything goes in cycles.
Eventually, the cycle will move away from the current regime and the religious right will lose their grip on America. The religious right is smart.. and very good at what they do, but they're still a minority of the population.

[lite.livejournal.com]

Also, by the way, keep in mind that while i don't disagree that the quality of American Education is decreasing at a steady and terrible rate, the fact is that students from all over the world still come HERE for an education because they know American Education.. at least American higher education is the best, at least in some fields.

Again, cycles. I don't know how the educational crisis will end, but I don't doubt it will.
And until it does, it's up to people like you and me and everyone else who can read this to make sure, when we have children, that they are educated properly. This means parental involvement and alot of it.
Parental involvement works. Every study I've seen (keep in mind my mother is a teacher and she gets all the teacher's unions publications) say that and I believe it.
I didn't get to where I got because of public education only.

[alierak.livejournal.com]

Bush does (http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/bush_vision.html) want to give NASA money, but for what lite said, not for questionable investments like fixing the Hubble, again. At this point it'd probably be cheaper and more useful to put up a new telescope with unmanned deployment, focusing the real money on returning to the moon.

[lite.livejournal.com]

I would tend to agree, except that there's a cynical part of me that is afraid that any telescope we put up would have.. issues as well. Hopefully not the same issues as hubble, but issues.

Also, I'm serious that I think we should head to Mars. We've done the moon. I'm sure there's plenty to learn on the Moon still, but Mars is the next fronteir. We COULD DO Mars if we pooled our resources and knowledge together. Just like we could go to the Moon.

[alierak.livejournal.com]

From the article:

"Our third goal," Bush said, "is to return to the moon by 2020, as the launching point for missions beyond." He proposed sending robotic probes to the lunar surface by 2008, with a human mission as early as 2015, "with the goal of living and working there for increasingly extended periods of time."

Bush said lunar exploration could lead to new technologies or the harvesting of raw materials that might be turned into rocket fuel or breathable air.

"With the experience and knowledge gained on the moon," he said, "we will then be ready to take the next steps of space exploration: human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond."

So yeah, that sounds pretty much like Mars by 2050 to me. Not that, if it actually happens, it will be any of Bush's doing...

[lainiest.livejournal.com]

Dude, I totally want to be a cybernaut.
You ever read any William Gibson? Rock-awesome level of technology and crap that he made up for his novels. We wants it, precious.

[lite.livejournal.com]

Never read William Gibson, no. Sorry. :)

I stand corrected :)

freak

[lainiest.livejournal.com]

You should read some, he's awesome. I recomment Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties, in that order. D:

[janinedog]

There's been a lot of new findings in biology (and, in particular, bioinformatics) during our generation. One big example is the sequencing of the human genome. Sure, it's not something you watch on TV like men walking on the moon, but it is a huge step in learning a lot about how we work.

[lite.livejournal.com]

I don't want to downplay all we've learned about biology, but again.. it doesn't really lend itself into a dream, a shining moment in time when the whole world was watching.

[angiepenguin.livejournal.com]

My generation does dream. Or at least, I do. I still want to go to the stars, go out into space.

I find things like the X-Prize and what Burt Rutan is doing inspiring... government is way too bloated, and generally sucks inspiration *out* of people.