“Ride, Boldly Ride”: Why human space exploration is important!

by William Atkins

Sunday, 27 July 2008

Page 1 of 4 ! On July 24, 2008, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin gave a speech at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (University of West Florida) called “What the Hubble Space Telescope Teaches Us about Ourselves.” I found the IHMC speech on the SpaceRef.com website “Remarks by NASA Adminstrator Michael Griffin.” I have copied this speech verbatim so I could highlight sentences and paragraphs so, if you can’t read the whole speech, you could at least read what I consider the more important parts of the speech. This is not a speech in support of NASA, nor a speech against NASA. Simply, it is a speech that provides one man’s view of NASA and human space exploration, in general. A view that have has been developed over many years within the organization and within the aerospace and space science fields. You may not always agree with what NASA does in its role as the national space agency for the United States. I don’t always agree with them. However, I do think they (this group of people under the name National Aeronautics and Space Administration) are trying their best to advance human and robotic space exploration for the benefit of the United States, and for the whole of humanity, too. As I have commented before, any organization is just a group of people dedicated to a common cause. They sometimes make mistakes. Sometimes, if those mistakes are big enough they make the international news. This has happened, unfortunately, to NASA. They have learned from their mistakes on some occasions, and at other times they haven’t. With all of the criticisms levied against NASA, the organization is still the largest and most influential space agency in the world. It takes time to reach such a position. Criticisms against organizations and disagreements about how organizations operate are helpful. If valid they help to identify wrongs being committed and correct mistakes being performed. However, criticisms and disagreements are not necessarily valid. Just because someone criticizes an organization, doesn’t make it correct. It also doesn’t, at all times, make it incorrect. Thus, this is why experts discuss such matters at length in order to find out what is wrong and what is right. This is why researchers study a problem from all angles, and sometimes repeat experiments in order to validate (or reject) an initial conclusion. In 2008 (and beyond), NASA is being challenged from many space agencies of foreign countries, who are also staging their own exploration of near-Earth, the Moon, Mars, Venus, and the solar system in general. This challenge is only possible from the work of the United States and the U.S.S.R. (now Russia) as far back as the late 1950s. Such a challenge is not bad. In fact, it is good. Challenges help strengthen a good organization, and often times destroy a bad one. Challenges can also exist in parallel with cooperation. NASA will be competing with and will be cooperating with many countries in this century with regards to the exploring of our planet, and the other planets and bodies of our solar system, along with the Universe as a whole. On the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of NASA, I’d like for you to read what Michael Griffin thinks about NASA, its role in the United States and the world, and a bit about ourselves (the human race). I have “bolded” and in some instances “underlined” important passages. Dr. Michael Griffin is speaking: Good evening. I would like to begin by thanking Ken Ford for inviting me to be with you tonight. The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) is a truly unique group, tackling interdisciplinary issues of science and engineering that help to extend mankind's reach on many frontiers. Page two continues.... << First page <   1 2 3 4 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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