The end of the shuttle program is a very sentimental event for me, and one that has affected me even more than I thought it would. I worked from home today due to deliveries coming to the house, and I used the occasion to take an extended lunch break to see Endeavor on its last flight with Ruby. Going to LAX today to see Endeavor touch down for the very, very last time was something I expected to be an emotional event for me. After all, as a kid, the shuttle program was the single biggest thing that inspired me to learn, explore, and discover. I knew practically everything there was to know about the shuttles as I pored over books and articles about the shuttle and by extension, the space program, astronomy, and science in general. It inspired me to dream of the unknown.
And so, decades later, this chapter of American space exploration is over. Watching it perform its low pass over LAX and later land for the last time brought up so many emotions: exhilaration, a little sadness that this chapter of space exploration is over, and uncertainty over what the end of the program means for the future.
After Endeavor performed its low pass, a little boy about five or six years old sitting on his dad’s shoulders excitedly exclaimed, “I’m going to be a scientist!!” That one comment was really pretty profound. This boy felt the same excitement that I did at his age, and it was inspiring him to strive to be an agent for the advancement of humankind. But with the shuttle program over, our nation has no firm plans to develop any more manned space vehicles. We may very well not see our country send humans to space again in our lifetime. We have let the Russians and the Chinese assume the role of taking humans into space. Sure, there are private entrepreneurs trying to accomplish manned quick joyrides for those with the means to pay for it, but the shuttle program was different: we as a nation decided to utilize a good chunk of our resources for the sake of science and exploration. The symbolism behind that was significant.
I know we are exploring Mars with Curiosity and the earlier rovers, but you have to admit there is just something awesome about humans leaving our planetary boundaries. As amazing as Curiosity’s arrival on Mars was, you can’t deny that it will be 100x more thrilling and awe inspiring when the first human steps foot on the red planet. After all, human exploration IS our heritage – always has been, and I think will always be.
Anyways, I guess I’m a little sad that today’s kids, Ruby included, will not have an American manned space program to inspire them in the way so many kids of my generation were. The priorities and thus budget just aren’t there, I suppose.
I’m just so happy I got to see it fly for the last time, and see it touch down for the last time – the latter event being the catalyst for all of these thoughts. As a parent, I’ll always work to instill that spirit of discovery and curiosity in Ruby that the shuttle program instilled in me as a child. As such, I’d like to think the shuttles’ legacy will live on in that manner.
Thank you to all the men and women of NASA who made the shuttles and their accomplishments a reality. You have inspired and continue to inspire, and you all RULE!