We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things,
not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
We had an expansive run in the '60s and '70s.
that our species would be on Mars before the century was over.
But instead, we've pulled inward.
we've backed off from the planets and the stars.
Is it a failure of nerve or a sign of maturity?
Maybe it's the most we could reasonably have expected.
In a way, it's amazing that it was possible at all:
We sent a dozen humans on week-long excursions to the Moon,
missions that returned a wealth of data,
but nothing of short-term, everyday,
bread-on-the-table practical value,
They lifted the human spirit, though.
They enlightened us about our place in the Universe.
A highly visible program affecting our view of ourselves
might clarify the fragility of our planetary environment
of all the nations and peoples of Earth.
Spaceflight speaks to something deep inside us
A scientific colleague tells me about a recent trip to the New Guinea highlands
where she visited a stone age culture
hardly contacted by Western civilization.
They were ignorant of wristwatches,
But they knew about Apollo 11.
They knew that humans had walked on the Moon.
They knew the names of Armstrong
They wanted to know who was visiting the Moon these days.
Projects that are future-oriented,
that, despite their political difficulties,
can be completed only in some distant decade
Winning a foothold on other worlds
In meantime people everywhere hunger to understand.
The idea that we've now understood something
especially intense for the scientists involved,
but perceptible to nearly everybody
propagates through the society,
It encourages us to address problems in other fields
that have also never before been solved.
It increases the general sense of optimism in the society.
It gives currency to critical thinking of the
if we are to solve hitherto intractable social issues.
It helps stimulate a new generation of scientists.
The more science in the media,
especially if methods are described,
as well as conclusions and implications
the healthier, I believe, the society is.
and our commitment to it must be steadfast.
for fundamental biological reasons.
Every time humanity stretches itself
it receives a jolt of productive vitality
that can carry it for centuries.
after what was then the longest space flight in history, said