Significant Lives
Just before STS-121/ULF-1.1 launched in July, NPR ran a story on Wayne Hale that touched my heart. It's so good to know that someone so high up is not yet jaded, and still inspired by the amazing challenge of American spaceflight.
An early passage from the article reads: "Every few months, thousands of people in the space-shuttle program open their e-mail boxes to find Hale's meditations on life, death and the meaning of rocket science."
Today, I received my first. Being a member of the International Space Station community, and not Space Shuttle, we aren't generally privvy to his messages. However, today the ISS Lead Flight Director for our next flight (STS-116/12A.1), John Curry, forwarded Mr. Hale's message with his own introduction. Atlantis launches on its next flight to the ISS in just 16 days.
Enjoy!
______________________________________________
From: Curry, John M. (JSC-DA8)
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 12:26 PM
To: JSC-DL-DA8-12.1-JOP
Subject: FW: Significant Lives
Wayne is so very good at these things. From an STS-116/12a.1 perspective, you all know the criticality of our mission. If we succeed, the International Space Station becomes fully functional, a permanent International outpost for manned spaceflight. Think about that for a moment because it is not overstated. Most of us on this DL have been working this flight very hard for many years and we can hardly believe we are finally this close to execution. Well, guess what, we are this close and we are ready to play whatever cards we are dealt! I have high confidence in the team and it makes going to work every day a no-brainer. Yes, I am very thankful for being part of such a wonderful mission and team and I sure wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!! December 7th is just around the corner….
John M. Curry
Flight Director, JSC-DA8
_____________________________________________
From: Hale, N W. (JSC-MA)
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 10:25 AM
Subject: Significant Lives
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” - Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Surveys show that about 60 % of Americans say they hate their jobs, dread going to work in the morning, wish they could do anything most days but go to their place of employment.
I was recently at a community gathering where the subject of work came up. When asked for a display of hands of those who dread going to work in the morning, I was astonished to see almost every hand go up.
The leader of the group asked individuals to explain why. Some of the answers were what you might expect: “My boss is a jerk”, “The CEO’s nephew got the promotion I deserved”, and more of the same. But a repeated theme was: “I wish I could do something that makes a difference, more than just pulling in a paycheck.”
People have a need to feel that what they are doing is important, where they are spending their time makes a difference in the world, what their lives are invested to be significant.
And I thought, how fortunate I am, how blessed we all are.
I was in Utah last week for a firing of our solid rocket booster at the ATK plant. It was a glorious sight and the engineering data will be invaluable. But after the firing we talked about what had happened just over the hill from the firing, over a century ago.
Just a few miles from where we build and test the throaty power of space exploration is the site where the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 - where they drove the golden spike that knit the nation together.
What an accomplishment. It was tremendously significant in the history of our country and one can even say it electrified the imagination of the world. Though we may not be able to call by name all the workers, we recognize that what they did was significant: it had lasting consequences far beyond getting a weekly pay envelope.
So where are we?
It is my strong belief that what we are doing is even more important and will have even farther reaching significance. The expansion of the space frontier will have tremendous consequences both for our own nation and for the future of all mankind.
How fortunate we are to be part of it! Don’t ever forget that what you are doing is far beyond merely earning your daily bread. The rest of the world envies our daily grind and wants to trade their jobs for ours. Even when the work is tough, difficult, sometimes tedious, never forget what you are a part of.
This Thursday you can even give thanks for it.
An early passage from the article reads: "Every few months, thousands of people in the space-shuttle program open their e-mail boxes to find Hale's meditations on life, death and the meaning of rocket science."
Today, I received my first. Being a member of the International Space Station community, and not Space Shuttle, we aren't generally privvy to his messages. However, today the ISS Lead Flight Director for our next flight (STS-116/12A.1), John Curry, forwarded Mr. Hale's message with his own introduction. Atlantis launches on its next flight to the ISS in just 16 days.
Enjoy!
______________________________________________
From: Curry, John M. (JSC-DA8)
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 12:26 PM
To: JSC-DL-DA8-12.1-JOP
Subject: FW: Significant Lives
Wayne is so very good at these things. From an STS-116/12a.1 perspective, you all know the criticality of our mission. If we succeed, the International Space Station becomes fully functional, a permanent International outpost for manned spaceflight. Think about that for a moment because it is not overstated. Most of us on this DL have been working this flight very hard for many years and we can hardly believe we are finally this close to execution. Well, guess what, we are this close and we are ready to play whatever cards we are dealt! I have high confidence in the team and it makes going to work every day a no-brainer. Yes, I am very thankful for being part of such a wonderful mission and team and I sure wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!! December 7th is just around the corner….
John M. Curry
Flight Director, JSC-DA8
_____________________________________________
From: Hale, N W. (JSC-MA)
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 10:25 AM
Subject: Significant Lives
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” - Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Surveys show that about 60 % of Americans say they hate their jobs, dread going to work in the morning, wish they could do anything most days but go to their place of employment.
I was recently at a community gathering where the subject of work came up. When asked for a display of hands of those who dread going to work in the morning, I was astonished to see almost every hand go up.
The leader of the group asked individuals to explain why. Some of the answers were what you might expect: “My boss is a jerk”, “The CEO’s nephew got the promotion I deserved”, and more of the same. But a repeated theme was: “I wish I could do something that makes a difference, more than just pulling in a paycheck.”
People have a need to feel that what they are doing is important, where they are spending their time makes a difference in the world, what their lives are invested to be significant.
And I thought, how fortunate I am, how blessed we all are.
I was in Utah last week for a firing of our solid rocket booster at the ATK plant. It was a glorious sight and the engineering data will be invaluable. But after the firing we talked about what had happened just over the hill from the firing, over a century ago.
Just a few miles from where we build and test the throaty power of space exploration is the site where the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 - where they drove the golden spike that knit the nation together.
What an accomplishment. It was tremendously significant in the history of our country and one can even say it electrified the imagination of the world. Though we may not be able to call by name all the workers, we recognize that what they did was significant: it had lasting consequences far beyond getting a weekly pay envelope.
So where are we?
It is my strong belief that what we are doing is even more important and will have even farther reaching significance. The expansion of the space frontier will have tremendous consequences both for our own nation and for the future of all mankind.
How fortunate we are to be part of it! Don’t ever forget that what you are doing is far beyond merely earning your daily bread. The rest of the world envies our daily grind and wants to trade their jobs for ours. Even when the work is tough, difficult, sometimes tedious, never forget what you are a part of.
This Thursday you can even give thanks for it.