One Morning On Planet Earth...
It was a distraction, to say the very least. I tried to watch the International Space Station sail across the early-morning sky...but my eyes kept checking the four police cars purposefully parked outside a low-rent house down the block. Very possibly a drug raid. No flashing gumballs, only yellow 'caution' lights. Most of my neighbors probably saw nothing at that hour. I saw---and was saddened and frustrated by the sight. Welcome to Your Dystopian Future, the image seemed to say. An outpost in space glided majestically toward the southeast, to vanish eventually from sight; the police cruisers stayed right where they were, forcing early-morning drivers to cautiously weave past them as best they could.
No doubt it's foolish ever to believe that technological advances will fundamentally improve human nature. The rocket boosters which put satellites and people in Earth orbit are descendants of the V-2, that often problematic bequest from The Third Reich's weapons engineers. The V-2's offspring were designed largely to put nuclear weapons on targets halfway around the planet. Human space flight, so lyrically described as 'humanity exploring the final frontier', has always had heavy military input into its development and budgets. No nation as of yet has been completely willing to check their guns at the launch pad.
For all the maddening baggage of opportunism, greed, and self-destructive stupidity which bedevil our species, I'm still looking to the skies---and the stars. The good or evil of a tool lies solely with the actions of the user. I'll take my launch vehicle to go, please, and skip the weapons package---that penalty-weight totally screws with the mileage.
No doubt it's foolish ever to believe that technological advances will fundamentally improve human nature. The rocket boosters which put satellites and people in Earth orbit are descendants of the V-2, that often problematic bequest from The Third Reich's weapons engineers. The V-2's offspring were designed largely to put nuclear weapons on targets halfway around the planet. Human space flight, so lyrically described as 'humanity exploring the final frontier', has always had heavy military input into its development and budgets. No nation as of yet has been completely willing to check their guns at the launch pad.
For all the maddening baggage of opportunism, greed, and self-destructive stupidity which bedevil our species, I'm still looking to the skies---and the stars. The good or evil of a tool lies solely with the actions of the user. I'll take my launch vehicle to go, please, and skip the weapons package---that penalty-weight totally screws with the mileage.