Into the sunset

Today was the last launch of our space shuttle missions. As I watched the launch I couldn't help but think back over the 50 years of my life at all the success and failures of our space program. No matter what happened, success or failure, the true American spirit always shown through in the end. Even though today was the last launch, it's not the end of Americans in space. We will continue to go into space, but for now we will be hitching rides into space with the Russians. That just seems a little strange to me.

We've learned allot from our space program, but more important, was what the space program meant to America. Space exploration embodied the American spirit. Just like the opening dialogue from the original Star Trek TV show... “To boldly go where no man has gone before” . That was us, the American people. An adventurous spirit that couldn't be tamed.

Granted the space program had a very high price to keep running. You always had the argument that with three quarters of the earths population living on less than $3.00 a day, the money could have been used for something better. That may be true, but I think what the space program gave us in return was so much more than what money could by. The space program inspired generations of kids who all grew up to become scientist, and its those scientists who have discovered and created some amazing things.

I would be writing for a couple of days if I included everything... but here are a few...

• Laser Heart Surgery
• Space Telescope Looks for Cancer
• Body Imaging
• New Arms and Legs
• Infrared Thermometer
• Light emitting diodes (LED)
• Composite Forceps
• Pill-Sized Transmitter
• Chromosome Analysis
• Digital Mammography
• Camera on a Chip

As you can see, some pretty amazing technology. I'm sure we will be back in space again one day soon. But for now, we will be hitching a ride to get there.

A little more of the America I knew has disappeared into the sunset.
Thank you NASA for the imagination inspiring missions you took us all on.

Tim

Legislating the poor

“Friend, you cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. And what one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government can’t give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody. And when half of the people get the idea they don’t have to work because the other half’s going to take care of them, and when the other half get the idea it does no good to work because somebody’s going to get what I work for. That, dear friend, is about the end of any nation.” -Adrian Rogers