A sudden realisation

[timetraveller]

Whilst giving my interview to the reporter of our local paper the other day one of the questions he asked was is there any major astronomical event that sticks in my mind well i gave him a couple of answers and didn't think very much of it until yesterday when i was hit with this amazing realisation, I was born in 1955 and believe it or not i have actually witnessed the entire combined space programmes of the entire plannet from sputnik And Uri Gagarin through mercury and Apollo the launch of the worlds first communications satelite Telstar all the salute missions lunar 1-5 skylab and Meir all the friendship missions voyagers 1 and 2 the space shuttle programme Mariner probes Giotto,Soho and mars rovers Hubble Spitzer and the birth of NASA and ESA and everything in between that takes some coming to terms with quite mind blowing when you think about it we have come a very long way in a very short time span regards Pete

[John]

It is mind blowing Pete !

1903 - 1st first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight by the Wright Brothers.

1969 - 1st man sets foot on the moon

Astonishing progress in just 66 years :shock:

It seems to have slowed a bit since then ...... but that might just be me looking at it all wrong

John

[Tim]

Funny, I was just thinking along similar lines the other day, the rate of techno progress in the last century is beyond anything ever seen on this planet.

But what would you call it Pete?

"Life after the Space Age"? ? ?

TJ

[Ferox]

Astonishing progress in just 66 years :shock:

It seems to have slowed a bit since then ...... but that might just be me looking at it all wrong

John

There were two world wars in those 66 years and sadly war drives technology.

[timetraveller]

I'm not sure the space age will ever end TJ its direction and goals might well change as the batton is passed to new generations and as new players like china and even India become increasingly involved who knows maybe we are beginning to see the end of NASA and ESA and the start of a world space administration were the effort becomes increasingly more multi national as the costs of space exploration spiral ever upwards .

I think there has already been significant steps taken in this direction with the ISS, and this new found collective drive will increase. Driven not only by costs but by a genuine desire to make this an exploration by planet man.

I can certainly see a greater use of robotic probes and space exploration remote vehicles, if for no other reason of cost . But would we ever truly loose that longing look and wish to go were few men have gone before ? I'm not sure we ever will it is a part of the human spirit we are by nature a curious species ever restless always straining to see what lies around the next corner so rather than the end i truly believe this is just the beginning of mans first faltering steps to boldly go were no man has gone before . One undying truth is that this is a totally different world to the one i was born into and I have stumbled and tottered and groped my way into my own exploration of the Heavens and that we walk among Giants and carry on in their spirit of adventure, in truth we are the new generation of Copernicus Galileo and Newton and it is our destiny to pass on the batton to the next generation

regards Pete

[Tiny]

If wars drive technology maybe we need a space war.

Of course if/when the Chinese get their act together it might be too late - maybe that's why the Americans want to get back to the moon.

[timetraveller]

That is a very cynical view Tiny

and although i do concede that the original drive to space may have well had its roots in war I hope and pray these days that has been replaced by gentler and more noble ideals.

I don't somehow think the Chinese have any aspirations to world domination rather a desire to get into the very lucrative satelite market as they drive headlong to join the 21 century i feel maybe we have now seen a revolution happen and that the new tour De force is communication rather than a total lack of it which is what sparked major conflict in the first place

but there again i could well be totally wrong only time will tell. As for the Americans drive to go back to the moon I thought that was part of their overall plan to send a manned mission to mars using the resources of the moon to produce the raw materials and fuel for the spacecraft

any ways all will be revealed in the fullness of time

regards Pete

[Tiny]

Amen to that.