Outer Space Isn’t Ready for Microsoft
On June 21st, Michael Melvill became the first civilian to reach outer space in a privately developed vessel. “Space Ship One” as it was called, was the first product of a well financed venture funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. My heart throbs with envy for this man. There is much buzz surrounding this event — people are calling it a Milestone; a turning point in the history of space exploration. The New York Times quotes one FAA official as saying “The flight today opens a new chapter in history, making space access within the reach of ordinary citizens.”
I have always had a great passion to be a part of space exploration. I would not however, have taken any part in this venture.
It is evident that NASA and other federalized space exploration agencies have lost significant momentum over the past three decades. At the age of 10 I visited Space Camp, where they reported predictions of manned trips to Mars by the year 2000. Four years later at Space Academy the prediction had been bumped to 2005-2010. Ask NASA today and they won’t even offer an estimate. Our most impressive accomplishment to date, the International Space Station is the first man-made ’star’ viewable in the night sky. It has been all but abandoned by NASA because they lack reliable transportation to get there.
Perhaps a swell of success and growth from a private space industry will give NASA and the others a kick in the pants, but at what cost? There is a conspicuous lack of explorers in the modern world. Capitalism and Ego have driven human curiosity into a dark cave. The debased character of IT is not the only example of this. With few exceptions, medical researchers have stopped looking for cures and now search only for the best treatments. Where’s the money in curing someone? They’ve turned life-threateners such as HIV/AIDS and many forms of cancer into chronic illnesses and billion dollar industries.
I believe there are still explorers in us. We can still be the people who sat quietly in awe of the first men on the moon. We can still be the people who cried when we lost Challenger. If private American companies are allowed to set the pace in space travel, pursuits such as science, medicine and the search for extraterrestrial life will be replaced with orbiting Carnival Cruise liners and Hard Rock Casinos on the moon.
