Thoughts about yesterday
Feb. 2nd, 2003 09:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lionkingcmslIt seems, to me, that the people hardest hit, other than those of the NASA family and the families of those killed, are those that have nothing to do with space travel, and probably never will, other than in their dreams.
Case in point. I am, for those that don't know, part of multi-author "space novel". We have written about space battles and ships blowing apart. There have been massive amounts of "people" being killed, yet, we, who have no chance of getting into space (that I know of), have felt the tragedy of yesterday pretty hard.
We aren't part of NASA, yet we, at least I do, feel a kinship with those that are in the "real" space program. We, the authors, build our ships and tech off of what is being done today, or what could be done in the near future.
In fact I've been told to submit my plans for the Lion's Den to NASA, as most of it could be built today. Will I submit my plans to NASA? Highly doubtful. Even though I would like to know what a NASA engineer thinks about my plans, it is not that "mission critical" to have that knowledge.
That, the feeling of those who do the dreaming for the rest of us, goes back at lest as far as Star Trek in its original form. Gene Roddenberry had NASA look at his plans and ideas. For the most part NASA said they were on solid footing. In return, NASA saw Star Trek as an excellent "vehicle" to keep the U.S. public excited about space exploration and the space program in general. Both sides benefited from this partnership.
Do I think my co-authors and I should approach NASA with our ideas? Not in the least, but if the opportunity should present itself, why not.
We have written stories that have those in space "seeing" the events of 1/28/1986 and 2/1/2003 from an orbiting space station, far in the future. The echoes of those two tragedies will echo for a long time. Far longer, I imagine, than Soyuz or Apollo 1. Soyuz and Apollo 1 were not watched by millions of souls in "real" time. The general public, especially in Soyuz's case, were far removed from the actual happening, while Challenger and Columbia, while most people seemed to take them as "routine", were still watched in awe. It is amazing of how many people, my parents included, were waiting to see, or hear, Columbia pass overhead. That is the reason for so much video. People were enthralled that people were returning from space.
I do not include Apollo 13 in the above, for though it was watched by millions, it had a "happy" resolution.
I feel that we should get back on that "horse" and continue the ride to the stars. For by not trying is the way to surely fail.
Mankind has only been under powered flight for 100 years. It is amazing, to this lion, what we have accomplished in only a century. From the first tentative flights at Kitty Hawk, NC, to the succesful landing and return of men to the moon, not once, but several times, to a manned space station in orbit.
Powered flight is still in its infancy, as far as the time of recorded history, and space flight is still a newborn. There are bound to be tragedies, and in the case of space flight there have been less than 25 deaths. That is an amzing feat considering the inherent dangers of putting a man into space and getting him home again.
To NASA I say, keep reaching for the stars, and I'll follow, as will most of mankind.
To end this, I will quote the lyrics from "Impossible Dream" from The Man of La Mancha as sung by Jack Jones. I feel it sums up my feelings very well.
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go.
To right the unrightable wrong
To be better far than you are
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To be willing to give when there's no more to give
To be willing to die so that honor and justice may live
And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star.
Case in point. I am, for those that don't know, part of multi-author "space novel". We have written about space battles and ships blowing apart. There have been massive amounts of "people" being killed, yet, we, who have no chance of getting into space (that I know of), have felt the tragedy of yesterday pretty hard.
We aren't part of NASA, yet we, at least I do, feel a kinship with those that are in the "real" space program. We, the authors, build our ships and tech off of what is being done today, or what could be done in the near future.
In fact I've been told to submit my plans for the Lion's Den to NASA, as most of it could be built today. Will I submit my plans to NASA? Highly doubtful. Even though I would like to know what a NASA engineer thinks about my plans, it is not that "mission critical" to have that knowledge.
That, the feeling of those who do the dreaming for the rest of us, goes back at lest as far as Star Trek in its original form. Gene Roddenberry had NASA look at his plans and ideas. For the most part NASA said they were on solid footing. In return, NASA saw Star Trek as an excellent "vehicle" to keep the U.S. public excited about space exploration and the space program in general. Both sides benefited from this partnership.
Do I think my co-authors and I should approach NASA with our ideas? Not in the least, but if the opportunity should present itself, why not.
We have written stories that have those in space "seeing" the events of 1/28/1986 and 2/1/2003 from an orbiting space station, far in the future. The echoes of those two tragedies will echo for a long time. Far longer, I imagine, than Soyuz or Apollo 1. Soyuz and Apollo 1 were not watched by millions of souls in "real" time. The general public, especially in Soyuz's case, were far removed from the actual happening, while Challenger and Columbia, while most people seemed to take them as "routine", were still watched in awe. It is amazing of how many people, my parents included, were waiting to see, or hear, Columbia pass overhead. That is the reason for so much video. People were enthralled that people were returning from space.
I do not include Apollo 13 in the above, for though it was watched by millions, it had a "happy" resolution.
I feel that we should get back on that "horse" and continue the ride to the stars. For by not trying is the way to surely fail.
Mankind has only been under powered flight for 100 years. It is amazing, to this lion, what we have accomplished in only a century. From the first tentative flights at Kitty Hawk, NC, to the succesful landing and return of men to the moon, not once, but several times, to a manned space station in orbit.
Powered flight is still in its infancy, as far as the time of recorded history, and space flight is still a newborn. There are bound to be tragedies, and in the case of space flight there have been less than 25 deaths. That is an amzing feat considering the inherent dangers of putting a man into space and getting him home again.
To NASA I say, keep reaching for the stars, and I'll follow, as will most of mankind.
To end this, I will quote the lyrics from "Impossible Dream" from The Man of La Mancha as sung by Jack Jones. I feel it sums up my feelings very well.
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go.
To right the unrightable wrong
To be better far than you are
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To be willing to give when there's no more to give
To be willing to die so that honor and justice may live
And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star.
