Sunday, October 14, 2007

This is an unusual photo which my daughter-in-law sent me recently (thanks Sarah!). It was taken from the International Space Station in September 2007 and shows the shuttle launch which will resupply the station. To have the ISS just above the Cape at the time of the launch is very very rare. There are maybe 6 people who have seen this sight out of the 9 or so Billion people who have lived on the planet since people as we know them arrived (genetically) on our little ball.

[UPDATE: I have recently learned this photo was NOT taken from the ISS but rather from a high altitude NASA jet. Here’s a link to Snopes for the details: http://www.snopes.com/photos/space/shuttlelaunch.asp#photo. This doesn’t change my main message ... just a clarification.]

I am a self-confessed geek when it comes to rockets and space. Sputnik was first orbited on my 7th birthday in 1957. I remember building model rockets as a kid and at age of 11 and sitting on the floor of my parents living room watching the Mercury missions. What was I doing while I watched? I was using a slide rule to calculate how high my rockets would fly ... no personal computers or pocket calculators then, you see.

I believe in space. I believe we need to aggressively explore space. We’ve learned a lot there, but there’s much much more to learn.

I believe we need to use remotes and robots to do it, but that seems too stale to me. There is no romance in bots. There is no adventure in bots. But there is data, and analysis, and real science in bots. So do it!!!

But I also believe we need to put people back in space. Not the brain-dead ISS. But a real mission with real risk, tremendous emotional payloads, and real people in harm’s way. This is the best alternative to war I can think of, to advance the technology of the human species. It will be frightfully expensive ... but worth twice the price. Back to the moon? Yes, and more or less permanently. To Mars? We will pay for this with money and dead souls, but in my view it will be worth it! Not only twice, but a million times over.

So join me! Call or write your congressmen and senators. Encourage them to sieze the momentum of adventure. Demand we return to space!

And yes, we must pay for it. If it costs $100 per person per year in the US ... collect it and spend it. End pork barrel spending which accomplishes nothing. End ear marks to legislation because it is only political favoritism to contributors. Send all these wasted dollars to NASA.

Let’s go exploring!

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Technology
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