I see by the NY Times that it is the 50th Anniversary of the launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union, the first successful space satellite that launched us into the space age. Because of Sputnik, which beat our first successful Explorer, we faced what was then an international embarrassment by having the Communists conquer the skies while our first couple of attempts blew up on the launch pad. It was something that would be repeated when the Russians launched Yuri Gagarin as the first man-in-space a few years later.
The focus changed when Jack Kennedy vowed to land a man on the moon within a decade. America got 100% behind the space program and succeeded. As a young boy when all this started I was sure that when I reached the age of my father and grandfather we would be exploring the galaxy.
So what happened?
Years of Viet Nam followed by years of South America, the Berlin Wall, the Reaganizing of our economy (which converted the economy to private, profit-motivated development and really got the government out of a real future in space – hidden behind the space shuttle program which was like marking time in history) and the adventures in the Middle East oil situation (excuse me, in the Middle East bringing-democracy-to-the-oppressed-Arabs situation) have left us, after 50 years, still on our little planet wondering if we’ll ever get off.
The space program was once the most positive competition with our then Soviet enemy that didn’t give us 3 or 4 dead Americans a day and produced all kinds of advances (like Tang!) which actually improved our lives. It led to cooperation between the Russians and us on the International Space Station which, while it’s development is dragging along, has not accounted for one IED explosion or bombing raid on women and children.
If my three grandsons reach my age, an increasingly iffy situation in a world identified by Axes of Evil, I wonder if they will see us traveling to Mars or beyond?
One could wish.
