Our Destiny in Space
Space: the final frontier. When Captain Kirk first uttered those meaningful words in 1966, the possibility of traveling to the stars at speeds faster than light seemed unrealistic. The very idea of traveling out of our solar system seemed absurd. Back then, most people didn�t even think about the possibility of traveling in space. That was for science fiction writers. The many failures helped contribute to this general consensus. This was even after John F. Kennedy�s moon mission speech and his obligation to go to the moon in that decade. The space program had been a wild roller coaster ride for all the Americans, and it had been a nightmare for the astronauts and engineers involved. It seemed like the space program was doomed. But, as the �60�s rolled along and Eagle touched the desolate surface of the moon the space program was coming back, and it seemed like we could go to places beyond our wildest dreams. The one fact that remained constant throughout the years was inevitable: Man�s future is undeniably in space.
Traveling into space is always very risky. Risk is part of life. If we never took risks, we would still be back in the stone age. We like taking risks, assuming it is not suicidal. Traveling to space is far from suicidal, but it is also far from safe. Risk is part of space travel. If we want to do something unprecedented and beneficial, then there are always risks attached. When talking about why the crew was on the Enterprise in Star Trek, Kirk said, �There is an enormous danger potential, but the possibility and potential for knowledge is equally great. Risk is our business. That�s what this starship is all about. That�s why we�re aboard her.�
Why do we want to go to space? Is it because we are tired of Earth? Is it because we are sick of our immoral behavior? Is it because we are tired of the American philosophy of the needs of the few outweighing the needs of the many? The answer to those questions is no. It is simply because we humans must advance. We must go to the next level. We want to do something different. These are among the reasons people went on wagon trains to the west. Because that was the next level. Traveling to space is merely a �wagon train to the stars.� Traveling beyond the solar system is the next level. We will always be seeking a �next level� as long as humans exist.
Failure was synonymous with the space program in the early �60�s. Some people didn�t see why. No Americans had died in space. Of course, that was because many of the experimental spacecraft never left the ground before they exploded. Despite these difficulties, we still kept making adjustments and kept trying to do anything to help our situation. We kept persevering, seemingly unperturbed by our irrepressible job at failing time and time again. It is that will that we have to succeed that keeps us going every day. We have the basic need to succeed against all odds. That is one of the reasons why our future is in space. Space is the ultimate triumph. When traveling in space becomes a part of everyday life, we will feel that we have achieved the ultimate goal. It is for that feeling, that overwhelming sense of accomplishment, that we continue to have the desire to travel in space.
In 1961, in his moon mission speech, John F. Kennedy said, ��But why�, some say, �Why chose this as our goal?�� The answer, quite simply put, is humans have always been and will continue to be explorers. In our childhood days, we would always wonder where every path would lead, what was over every hill. We have always been fascinated at, and we have to know, what might be out there, in space. There are endless possibilities. We won�t go through every square inch of space, but we will explore and analyze every cubic millimeter until either the big crunch, a time when the universe all comes together and is destroyed, or until finally one day we have all the answers. We will continue to seek out new life forms and new civilizations boldly going where no man has gone before.
Kennedy also said, �We chose to go to the moon in this decade...not because it is easy, but because it is hard.� We have always enjoyed challenges: Challenges of our ability, challenges of our dedication, challenges of our minds. Why is space considered to be such a challenge? Traveling to space is something that is unknown. Anything unknown is considered a challenge. It is the ultimate challenge. It is a challenge that we don�t want to have to wait around to see the results. And it is one that we can�t postpone any longer.
When we finally figured out that there was a whole universe out there to be studied, we were both amazed and intrigued. Why? Because we needed to know. We need to know if there is other life out there or if we are alone in the universe. We need to know what everything is and how it works. We need to explore the endless possibilities of what might be. We will keep compiling information about space and about what wonders it might hold, until we get to experience it firsthand. And even then, we won�t stop. We are much like robots programmed to take in all information we can: Explore what is explorable, know the knowable, learn the learnable.
One of the reasons why some Americans don�t want to go to space is because they fear it. They fear that we will have to change and adapt when we travel to space. Some people hear the word space or Star Trek and they groan. But that is not the main reason why they are afraid. I thought Sybok in Star Trek V summed up this fear very well. To summarize his speech: The people of our planet once believed our world was flat. Columbus proved it was round. They said the sound barrier could never be broken. It was broken. Traveling to space is the ultimate expression of this universal fear. It�s an extension of personal fear. What many people fear is the unknown possibilities there could be. If some people heard this, they would be even more afraid of traveling to space. But I ask them to understand that we can overcome these fears and we can travel to space. That we can overcome these fears and challenges. And most importantly, for the good of mankind, we must go to space.
There is one major problem with the space program today. The problem isn�t lack of money or lack of ideas. It�s lack of public interest. When Armstrong walked on the moon there was an inexhaustible amount of public interest. Even in the next two missions, going to the moon already seemed routine. It took a near tragedy, aboard Apollo 13, to get America to realize that it wasn�t routine at all. Now, a young kid might pick up a newspaper and tell his parents, in a very monotonous tone, that we just launched a space shuttle that will do experiments. And his parents may well ask, �Didn�t they do that thirty missions ago?� This is the one most devastating problem in the space program. We need to devise a new way to once again capturing everyone�s hearts. It is only by doing this that we will have the fascination of the space program that we had some thirty years ago. We need another John F. Kennedy to stand on a podium and say, �Why go to Alpha Centauri? Why chose this as our goal?� We are in dire need of an inspirational figure or speech to make it known that we can and will travel to space.
There are some solutions to this problem. We need to convince the people we know to believe that space is, above all other things, our future. The rest of the public needs to be supportive of the proposition of traveling to distant stars. They need to somehow be convinced that we can accomplish the goal of having space travel as a regular form of transportation. Only then, when it seems as though everyone supports this proposition, will the government actually make an effort to travel faster than light. Above all, stay informed. We need to know what is going on in the space world. It really isn�t that difficult. If we are enthusiastic, everything else will fall into place. And then, once again, we will travel to the stars and beyond.
The space program has only been beneficial to the people of America and of the world. Because of it, a majority of the people of Earth know some of what is out there and what may lie ahead. When the space program was most active, our education program soared to an all-time high. Now that it isn�t active, education has hit an unacceptable low. Somewhere there is probably a medicine that can cure even the most devastating disease. It is likely that there is a new fuel that can power our spacecraft more efficiently. There is something for everyone in every field. Space travel is a no-lose scenario. It can only be beneficial. By colonizing other planets we can solve the world�s population problem. By finding other species we can learn many new ideas and better ways of doing things. There is a solution to every problem, a way out of every box. Space travel is a solution to many of our problems and a way out of a box called Earth.
When Neil Armstrong stepped on to the moon he said, �That�s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.� When we step on another planet, it will be more than a giant leap for mankind. It will again define our destiny. They say we cannot predict the future, that we cannot even begin to know what endless possibilities it holds. But, they are wrong. We know that we must go to space. We know that we will go to space. That is our first best destiny. And it is logical that we acknowledge this and travel to the stars. We will, sometime, someday, travel beyond the solar system and perhaps even into another galaxy. Our journey in space has not ended. It is a journey that has never been meant to end. It has only just begun. Granted, it will be tough to search for new life and unknown planets. But we will rise to the occasion. We have the technology. We have the will. Perhaps some day when you look up on a clear, starry night, you may be see bright light belonging to a human spacecraft, about ready to go into warp. There are always possibilities...