Today marks the launch of the last US Shuttle flight. It makes a great day for those who worked hard and spent their life on the shuttle program - great accomplishments and plenty to be proud of. And it also marks a sad day, as soon, several thousand NASA workers, some of the best and the brightest, will be finding themselves out of a job, in an effort to save money for the government and reduce debt etc.
Some of us grew up in an era of vision - a bright hope of a future of near Science Fiction realized by the brave men and women of the space program, not just the astronauts but the engineers, the scientists who made it all possible. We drank Tang and marveled at the concept of launching something like Hubble. Space probes that would tell us about the universe. But now, we're OK with letting the best and the brightest go.. because we can't have that kind of hope.
Who didn't grow up with the concept of "someday I will go to space!" It may have been a dream, but it was the dream of almost every kid I knew. The concept of going to the moon; finding life in the universe.. or even finding something "cool". The invention of technologies that came from the space program, which we thought: wow, this is what engineers do.
I was an adult when I first saw invisible braces. WOW! So much cooler then the metal wonks I wore as a kid! How did it happen? Why, NASA engineering research and money with Ceradyne helped develop the technology.
My scratch resistant glasses? Why a NASA engineer helped develop that to help the visors on the helmets for astronauts.
The ear thermometer. Memory Foam. Artificial limbs. Modern Water Filtration. Solar and Conversion technologies.
The bright minds at NASA helped develop those. Along with numerous research for flight and safety.
Tomorrow, NASA begins pairing down another 5,000 jobs, and over the last 2 years, 11,000 jobs at NASA have disappeared. The best and the brightest have to look elsewhere for research options, space flight, and goals. Some of them may leave NASA on their own, for better offers from other space agencies outside the US - because it is the dream that drives them, and their skill and knowledge that will get them those positions.
We worry about Jobs reports and flagging numbers while the government cuts jobs and it is only a drop in the bucket. But the problem isn't the drop in the bucket.. it's that we have seemingly given up on the dream of achieving the unimaginable; of accomplishing the miraculous.
I remember the ridicule when Hubble first launched and had to be repaired; and today, I look at the images of hubble, and think to myself: this is as close as we can get to seeing the mind of the universe.
Images from Hubble:
http://www.spacetelescope.org/...
A few weeks ago, a good friend took a full ride to attend MIT in Physics. Brilliant, and growing up in the memory of the Shuttle, the first thought was: how can we do what is next?
I believe in America the inventor. America the creator, the dreamer, the people of Vision. I just wish that our government did as well. To those newly out of work NASA employees: I wish you luck and hope you find somewhere else to fulfill your dream.
EDIT: Stolen from a GREAT comment, but it deserves to be seen by everyone, and credit where credit is due.