we choose to go to the moon
I'm going to try really hard not to comment on the politics involved, but the Shuttle Atlantis returned from it's last scheduled space flight yesterday. There might be another shuttle resupply mission going to the International Space Station in 2011, but for all intents and purposes the shuttle program is grounded for now. This saddens me more than I can say. I grew up in a time when manned space flight was always around. I studied the history in school, and watched some of the launches of TV, have been there for some of the tragedies too, but it's kind of sad to think that my children could grow up in a time when men and women from this country won't boldly go like they have in the past.
Sure, there are lots of plans for the future, but from all that I've been reading I'm not really encouraged by any of it. This speech is one of the most inspiring that I've ever heard. I might be biased; I did have to do a report on it in school, but it has been one of my favorites ever since:
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
- John F. Kennedy, Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962
It launched an era of space exploration in the US that would leave it's mark on everything from politics to industries to pop culture for years to come. It's sad to be here at the end of one era but I hope to still be here at the beginning of a new one for space exploration. Mars or bust!
Sure, there are lots of plans for the future, but from all that I've been reading I'm not really encouraged by any of it. This speech is one of the most inspiring that I've ever heard. I might be biased; I did have to do a report on it in school, but it has been one of my favorites ever since:
Click to view“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
- John F. Kennedy, Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962
It launched an era of space exploration in the US that would leave it's mark on everything from politics to industries to pop culture for years to come. It's sad to be here at the end of one era but I hope to still be here at the beginning of a new one for space exploration. Mars or bust!