A little over a week ago I watched space shuttle Atlantis land at Kennedy. I had lots and lots of mixed emotions. The shuttle is just a remarkable technological achievement, and watching it land can be a pretty emotional experience.
But the space shuttle was never supposed to be more than a space truck to low Earth orbit. I was left reflecting on my childhood when I watched Apollo astronauts walking on the Moon, and dreamed of what awaited us in the 21st Century in terms of human spaceflight. It has definitely not come to pass. In fact, approaching 2010 we are now at a crossroads. The shuttle has just five more flights, and then the U.S. will need to rely on the Russians for years just to have astronaut access to the International Space Station. And that's just keeping the status quo with humans continuing to travel no farther from the surface of Earth than a couple hundred miles. I drive farther than that visiting my mom just north of New York City from my home near Washington, DC. It's called low Earth orbit, and we've been stuck here now for 37 years. Is this the grand vision for human spaceflight we embraced 40 years ago when we saw Armstrong and Aldrin walking on the Moon?
So what exactly are we doing as a nation in terms of leadership in human spaceflight? Are we embracing a strategic long-term plan or an administration flavor of the month? Should human spaceflight be a high technology priority for America? Should we allow this leadership to pass to other nations? Won't such action surely help erode our larger 'brand' as a leader and innovator in science and technology? Is the future of U.S. human spaceflight really about the NASA budget shortfall recently identified by the White House-appointed Committee headed by Norman Augustine, or is it something far more substantial, reflecting a nation trying to redefine itself -- no, make that a superpower unsure of how to chart its course in the 21st Century after the rules of the road seem to have dramatically changed? Is it the inability to muster a national will on virtually anything in light of a seemingly perfect storm of crises here at home, and globally?
My sadness over an unrealized vision for human spaceflight only leads me to a more general realization. And it's this realization that is very troubling to me, even ominous. Will America be able to compete in the global high technology marketplace of the 21st century? Are we taking science and technology education seriously? Are parents taking science and technology education seriously? Do Americans know that our national prowess in science and technology is about the future of our children, our standard of living, and the American dream? Do Americans truly know this is of national strategic importance? We are living through changes forced by globalization and a new marketplace. Are jobs lost ever coming back? More importantly -- are we training Americans -- all Americans -- in our grade K-12 system and in our colleges and universities, in skills required by 21st Century jobs? This is far bigger than leadership in spaceflight. It's about the science and technology required to address global problems from energy, to climate change, to managing limited resources in the midst of growing populations. Will America be capable of stepping to the plate in the face of these challenges -- in the face of these remarkable opportunities?
We landed humans on the moon. It is still hard to fathom. It was the most remarkable journey the human race has ever undertaken (my view). It was raw inspiration that propelled generations of young Americans to the frontiers of science and technology. Yet it seems to me that a vibrant, healthy nation, is only as good as its next success. The question before us -- are we now destined in the words of Dylan Thomas to "just go gentle into that good night?" I firmly believe it is up to us.
I had written in an earlier post my view on the needed driver for the future of U.S. human spaceflight.
Here is what it was like for me living through Apollo, and a later chance encounter with Buzz Aldrin. It will give you a sense of where I'm coming from, and might reconnect you with a vision for the future from a time long ago.
Photocredit: NASA
Follow Jeff Goldstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/doctorjeff
The people who sent 12 men to the moon's surface did it with the power of intellect, dedication and will. Their tools were primitive compared to what's available today. They were charged with the task in 1961 and completed it in mid-1969 - ahead of schedule.
We don't have such people anymore.
Cherry Springs State Park.
http://greenlifepenn.org/?p=264
If we don't give them the sky now, how can we hope that we will go anywhere?
To explain, a private New Jersey company called "BlackLight Power, Inc." is getting tremendous amounts of energy from hydrogen. Watch this 2 minute CNN video and be amazed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1iqa0dSJO0
By the way, the following is founder Dr Randell Mills on 1 Dec '09 giving an update of this company's progress: http://www.wsw.com/webcast/fbr23/blacklight/
The future is looking much brighter, because this emerging clean energy technology has the potential of turning a barrel of water into a fuel as powerful as 200 barrels of oil! By the way, I am just an internet global warming activist, my bio can be seen at www.myspace.com/dobermanmacleod
We get great pictures, and some science done, but we do not scratch that eternal human itch to "see what's over the next hill." And besides, as we've seen from the Mars Rovers, there's just so much you can do with robots. Yes, they found some ice under the dust; but what was in the ice? what was under the ice? If there was ever any kind of life on Mars, it's unlikely a rover - sent after great deliberation to very specific sites - would ever find it. But a person, wandering around over the surface, able to make split second decisions about what looks interesting (or just different) just might.
Besides, losing the capacity for manned spaceflight effectively dooms us - stuck on the surface of this speck of dust. And the way we're abusing the biosphere, that's not an enviable position.
A revolutionary energy source, fractional Hydrogen is being commercialized. BlackLight Power (BLP) plans 50 kilowatt prototype plants next year. Six utilities have agreed to purchase more than 8,000 megawatts of inexpensive electricity.
Independent laboratory experiments at Rowan University, repeated by GEN3 Partners, have validated the work. The experiments can be reproduced at other laboratories.
At Chava we call this - Energy from Collapsing Hydrogen Orbits - ECHO™. Our technology and theoretical understanding differs from BLP. Our focus is powering engines.
We agree that with fractional Hydrogen systems, a barrel of water equals 200 barrels of oil.
A small engine powered by ECHO may replace a household furnace. Instead of a substantial quantity of natural gas, it will need perhaps 200 watts of electricity.
ECHO powered hybrid auto engines, fueled by one gallon of water per thousand miles, will become power plants when parked.
Parked cars and trucks will sell electricity to local utilities, replacing any need to build coal and nuclear power plants.
See: 5 Steps to Revive the Auto Industry and the Economy at: http://www.aesopinstitute.org
Also how? at: http://www.chavaenergy.com
ECHO may even open a replacement for rocketry, lowering the cost of space flight.
It can open an unsuspected path to a learning civilization and planetary prosperity.
It isn't Teflon or Tang; it's basic research and applied sciences. It's weather forecasts that keep people alive. It's better materials. It's better communications, where a call to Australia is as easy as a call down the block. It's computers. It's green tech (needed to keep folks alive in the deep dark.) it's power systems. It's much, much more.
We made a small investment with a huge return. And then we sat back and took it all for granted. When you live in a world of miracles, miracles are mundane. And boring. We stopped looking at the sky and at the future. We starting gazing at our navels.
My God, I hope the dream carries on someplace where someone will take care of it, nurture it, make it thrive. Here, it's looking a little grim.
And then I remember that the last thing to emerge from Pandora's box was hope.
Even the drama of Apollo 13 couldn't keep Americans' attention for long. By the time a real scientist got to the moon on Apollo 17, nobody was watching; it was all so passe.
Being stuck on the surface of just this one rock is dangerous. Especially given how poorly we've treated the biosphere.