Back in January of 1986, I was a sophomore in college double-majoring in chemistry and physics. I had been hooked on science and technology since I was a four-year old watching the Apollo 11 moon landing on our black and white television along with just about every other civilized human on the planet. Science, rockets, spaceships and technology took over my life from that point on. That January morning I was eating lunch with friends in the dining hall when one of my dorm mates told me the Shuttle Challenger exploded soon after launch.
After some convincing that he wasn't teasing, I rushed back to my dorm room to watch the news coverage of the event on my small black and white dorm television. All of the guys on the floor knew I was into NASA's Space Shuttle Program and stopped by to get an explanation of the tragedy. While the news anchors were all over the place with theories, I used my large-scale shuttle models to illustrate the various scenarios. (Yes, my roommate covered his side of the room with centerfolds and I had shuttle models and planetary posters captured from the Voyager probes.)Soon after the loss of Challenger and her brave crew, President Ronald Reagan appropriated 2 Billion dollars to assemble a new shuttle that would ultimately be named Endeavour. And today, over 15 years later, Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off on its final mission. NASA is bringing its Space Shuttle program to an end without a replacement. The US Debt is now growing at an estimated rate of over 2 Billion dollars per every eight (8) hours - three space shuttles per day. Thousands of people whose careers were associated with the manned space program are being let go. One of the retired shuttles is being shipped to New York City to curry favor with voters rather than resting in Houston, Texas, home to mission control. Worrisome times.
So what is the Next Big Thing? The Political Class demonizes Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Coal, Big Natural Gas and Big Nuclear while celebrating proper tire inflation. They cry out for better education and training in Science, Mathematics and Engineering and then shutter or heavily regulate organizations that innovate. Perhaps this morning's Royal Wedding will spark the inhabitants of this precious blue marble to continue the Big Dream and to strive to accomplish great things -- not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize the measure of the best of our energies and skills...
