Off By One

Looking back over the year just past, i’ll be the first to admit there’s been a staggering amount of fascinating news, but there have been some things happening in the world that touched me more than the rest.

Make no mistake, the amount of death and suffering, mismanagement, untruth, and warfare worldwide has not passed unnoticed. And the steady erosion of individual freedoms and societal liberties has been bothering me from day one.

But there were some things this year that touched me especially.

First and foremost, on a small scale, i passed my first year of my CS program with great marks, earned my first post-secondary scholarship, and began the second year of said studies.

Second, Char and i moved. Although there are still outstanding issues both with the new house, which are being resolved, and with the old house, which are… annoying, the move has been such a good thing. Our new landlord is great, and we look forward to staying here a good, long time.

Third, and now moving to a larger scale, the third part of the Lord of the Rings came out, and i was just… awed. It was so beautiful, so perfect. Who would have thought that a story of that scope and ambition could have been brought to the screen so well and so fully, leaving my imagination stimulated, not stifled by it.

And fourth, if i had to choose one news item that truly was significant to me, there was this:

Let us not forget that the men and women that take to the stars do so at incredible risk to themselves. And let us not fail the ones who die reaching by declining to stand upon their shoulders and reach higher.

PS…

It’s worth checking this out, too - some nice art, commentary, and event synopses: Darryl Cagle’s Editorial Cartoon Year-in-review

Today, a third nation joined the US and USSR in the very exclusive group of spacefaring nations.

I disagree with China in so many things, from both political and ethical positions. But, i cannot help but feel immense respect for them as they take this important step into their own future.

I hope that Lt. Col. Yang Liwei lands safely at the end of his flight and that they continue to pursue this course. If they do, it will hopefully act as a goad, driving the space program in the US forward.

Perhaps now, in the same spirit that drove them during the cold war, the US will finally start putting money into space again. I can dream, can’t i?

It’s just that i haven’t had anything to say.

The whole Columbia thing is still a bit depressing. I’ve been roaming about in a bit of a fog, which isn’t a good thing, given that i have a midterm on Friday. A fairly hard one, as well.

The general feeling i’m getting from this newest shuttle disaster is one of apathy and indifference, which makes me quite sad. I wish that people around me were more aware of the importance of exploration and extending our reach beyond our grasp. That is, after all, what makes us special.

Oh well.

In other news, midterms are coming up, so soon i’ll be actually stressing.. Woohoo!

All you readers out there… Are any of you still commenting? Reading? Posting?…?

About two hours ago, as i write this, the NASA space shuttle Columbia lost contact with mission control while coming in for a landing. As of this writing, it is known (CNN link) that the space shuttle, with seven astronauts on board, broke up above central Texas at approximately 9 AM EST.

What more can I say?

The crew of the Columbia are Americans Col. Rick Husband, USAF, commander; Comdr. William McCool, USN, pilot; Lt. Col. Michael Anderson, USAF, payload commander; Capt. David Brown, USN, mission specialist; Dr. Laurel Clark, Comdr, USN, mission specialist; and Kaplana Chawla, mission specialist; and Israeli Col. Ilan Ramon, IAF, mission specialist.

We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on friendly skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.
Robert A. Heinlein, The Green Hills of Earth

Update:

It has turned up in my readings of commentary on this event that a CBC Newsworld interviewer took this event as an opportunity to whip the “American Arrogance” horse again (from The Ghost of a Flea):

CBC Newsworld just interviewed writer Robert Sawyer for his reflections on the shuttle program and potential causes of the disaster. The Newsworld interviewer asked Sawyer whether the cause was “arrogance” on the part of the U.S. government. (Sawyer said no.) This is one of the most odious questions I can imagine. It took minutes for the CBC to twist a tragedy into a politically motivated theatre of hate. Talk about manufacturing consent.

I don’t know how to respond to this… CBC is supposedly the Canadian perspective. But that’s just beyond the pale. I am going to reserve further comment until i see the interview, or read a transcript thereof, for myself, but…

Words fail me.

But they didn’t fail Jeff Fecke (Blog of the Moderate Left):

Well, if this is arrogance — exploring space for science, pushing the envelope of the human experience, doing what our species has always done — then I support it. If it is arrogant to want to learn, we are arrogant. If it is arrogant to want to explore, we are arrogant. If it is arrogant to risk our lives for the possibility of a better future for all mankind, we are arrogant. Mankind is arrogant. We believe foolish things—that we may one day cure cancer, that we may one day develop new forms of energy, that we may one day walk on Mars. We believe these foolish things, and we dedicate ourselves to achieving them. How ridiculous. How arrogant. And people die for these things. And people are injured for life. The astronauts of Apollo 1, and the Challenger, and now, sadly, the Columbia have died for the arrogant belief that we can be more than we are, that we can walk on the moon, that we can touch the stars. This arrogance is not American in nature. It is human. It is human arrogance that led us from the veldt of Africa to the ice-bound wastelands of Europe, across the Bering Strait into the Americas, across oceans to Australia and Oceana. It is human arrogance that leads thousands of people to live in the frigid environment of Antarctica, that leads explorers to dive miles under the oceans in bathyscapes. This arrogance is our species’ birthright. It is what defines us. If we were not arrogant, we never would have flown. We never would have domesicated the horse. We would have died in the caves, unwilling to strive to be more than we are. So call us arrogant for building the space shuttle. Call the men and woman who gave their lives today arrogant for believing they could fly to space and return to tell about it. But don’t call us wrong. For this arrogance defines humanity. And I would rather our species be arrogant than afraid.

It’s been thirty years since Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, and Ronald Evans last took Apollo 17 to the moon. In the intervening years, the attitude of the public to space flight has become one of apathy and disinterest. Just like the Galileo posting earlier here, this kinda makes me sad. And i’m not just depressed by the apathy of those around me - it’s not like i knew about this either. Like many others, i have to admit that i failed to pay attention, and - like so many other great acts - this achievement has slipped out of memory for everyone.

I wish there was a way to show people that staying stuck on this planet is no way to have a future. We, as a species, are best served by planning for a time when Earth can no longer support us. And the critical first steps must be taken early, since we cannot predict when our time may run out, nor can we predict how long we’ll need to learn to make our ways in the greater universe. Mankind was building ships for generations before it became safe to travel between continents - centuries, even. So what makes anyone think that space travel will be any different?

This has to start now.

…but i fear it won’t.

There’s this piece of metal, see, and it was sent out thirteen years ago with the intent of learning more about the hunks of rock that share the sun with us.

In the next day or so, Galileo, well past its operating life, limping along with little or no fuel and no main antenna, will most likely send its last signal, as it passes close to Jupiter again, and begins to fall into the planet’s gravity well. I can clearly remember dreaming of space as a youngster. It’s no coincidence that most of what i read is science fiction - the exploration of the universe that surrounds Earth has always been of interest to me. So, this sort of thing is very moving to me. From Voyager and Apollo to the Challenger and Enterprise, man’s steps into space are amongst the greatest things that we do.

I hope that i will live to see mankind step as far out into space as our tools have. It’s a foothold, an explorer, a beater of paths. And i feel proud that my people, of whom i generally hold a low opinion, sent out this trailblazer.

Thank you, NASA. Thank you, you inanimate hunk of metal. Thank you, Galileo, for leading the way.