Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004060704
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY HINCKER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As the editorial says, pioneering is not for the fainthearted. It never has been. I suppose there were newspapers that felt exploring and settling this youthful nation's western frontier was not "worth the effort to overcome all the natural obstacles to that activity."
There were many who ridiculed the purchase and exploration of "Seward's folly," Alaska. And I am sure there must have been detractors to the aviation pioneers like the Wrights, Voisin, Bleriot, Earhart, Lindbergh, Sikorsky, Grumman, Hughes and others who felt the efforts were not worth the effort. But the payoff for future generations from those efforts has been immeasurable.
Let me hasten to add that I am no expert on aviation, astronomy or space exploration. I can't even profess a hobby-like knowledge. But I am mesmerized by this fascinating feat of mankind: flying through the air and breaking the bounds of gravity - and then traveling through space either in person or with probing surrogates to discover the beginnings of our universe, and yes, maybe even ourselves.
Writers much more profound than I have waxed eloquent on this remarkable achievement and the radical change it effected on the human psyche. I can only say that we must press on, we must find the will as a nation to continue with space exploration. That includes a sacrifice and considerable funding for very expensive projects such as space telescopes, solar probes, space stations, and the next generation of launch vehicle, the aerospace plane.
The editorial suggests we have no business in space because nature did not make human beings to exist and thrive there. The same can be said for sailing on the oceans, traveling under the sea, farming in deserts and flying through the air. Man's physical limitations have never been a permanent boundary.
The space station is a complex unknown; so was the Apollo project. Simply because it approaches the limit of human understanding is no reason to suspend search for future understanding.
In a compilation of Bill Moyer interviews, he asks Barbara Tuchman what she sees as the difference between modern American society and earlier generations she chronicled in her books. Her response: Today, we have nothing to look forward to. I suppose she meant that as an indication of our late 20th-century malaise - our lack of resolve to tackle big problems.
This is an enlightened and progressive newspaper. I know its leaders are proud of the role they play in the community fostering dialogue through painted and sometimes provoking commentary. I would hate to see them play a role in the shrinking of our society's expectations by shrinking from the challenge of space.
by CNB