Friday, February 21, 2003

A Stupid Perspective Earlier today I read an absolutely outrageous piece of trash published online by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer entitled "Scuttle the shuttle program" The author of this screed is one Ted Van Dyk. In his article Van Dyk likens the manned space program to shuttling on a monorail endlessly between Westlake Mall and the Space Needle. While I am as disappointed as any space enthusiast to be stuck in low Earth orbit after having visited the moon, by no means can a trip on the Space Shuttle or in a Soyuz spacecraft be liked to taking light rail across Seattle. He demeans the memory of those lost in the quest for space exploration as well as the heroism of those who have returned safely. Van Dyk claims the space program is nothing more than a public works project. That's baloney. He is right in saying that it lacks a clear goal. That, however, is not NASA's fault, but the fault of those who keep demanding perfection while slashing an already insufficient budget year after year. The San Jose Mercury News reported that just last year the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel found: "The current and proposed budgets are not sufficient to improve or even maintain the safety risk level of operating the Space Shuttle and ISS (International Space Station). When risk reduction efforts . . . are deferred, astronauts are exposed to higher levels of flight risk for more years than necessary." I think Van Dyk's negative outlook betrays him and he exposes himself for what he is in the last paragraph of his story where he states: If there is guiding intelligence in the universe, it seems unlikely it has granted us Manifest Destiny to explore and conquer space. Indeed, it would seem more likely that we are to be kept near our own planet until our species finally achieves self-extinction and, thus, is harmless to the cosmos. Now is that the kind of vision we want for this country? I prefer Robert Kennedy's: "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." I leave you with one last quote from Albert Einstein: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." According to the article Van Dyk is, a visiting scholar at the Institute for International Policy at the University of Washington, has been involved in national policy and politics since 1960. Why not drop him an email at t_van_dyk@hotmail.com and tell him what you think. 8:03:23 PM    Go Ahead, make my day  []

Good Morning "The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.”                                                                           C.S. Lewis 9:16:44 AM    Go Ahead, make my day  []