Objects in Space

I slept through the attempted launch of Space X’s Dragon this morning, it was far too early for me. It’s sad that it didn’t make it off the ground, but it is inspiring that people are trying.

As a nation, we stopped caring about space once it was no longer a useful political tool. But we’ve come around to a point again where we need that sense of wonder, that sense of adventure and that source of inspiration.

Along with Space X, there are a few other things happening that might help bring back space exploration. Seth MacFarlane is attempting to resurrect COSMOS, the classic television show from Carl Sagan, this time with one of my favorite people, Neil deGrasse Tyson. This testimony by Tyson delivered to the Senate, pleading for more budget for NASA and the fact that this video of Tyson’s passionate answer to “What is the most astounding fact you can tell us about the universe” has gone viral are good signs that people care again. Hitting closer to home, the ISON project on Kickstarter is an attempt to send a rocket into space from right here in Minneapolis.

These things are all important. Our world has become stagnant. We have a few making technological advancements, but they are mostly focused on commercial goals. Advancements in the name of increasing our knowledge of our world and our universe have taken back seat to making more money. What’s worse, is that the anti-science movement has moved from the fringe to the forefront in this election cycle. It will take the things I mentioned above, plus the encouragement of young people by parents, teachers, friends and family everywhere to get science and space exploration back in their rightful places.