I find it interesting that for about the same amount of money I could have came to Orlando and went to "Holy Land" or I could of went to NASA. Interestingly, in the big picture, "Holy Land" is winning: with the demise of the space shuttle program, it was obvious while at Kennedy Space Center today that our move to "free market capitalist" cough, private enterprise space program was making Republicans giggle with joy. Basically NASA is dying, and in one film today they showed how conservatives have suggested the benefits of the space program aren't as important as the issues our tiny little planet faces. Since this was NASA's home turf they defend it to pieces, explaining the scientific gains mankind has made from it. It's great, it's Americana... its everything America should be, everything it was, but isn't any longer. No one would say it but it was readily apparent when people walked out on the appearance of Astronaut Fred Gregory and ran in line for "Star Trek LIVE". Sure it's cool, but here was an American Hero- a man who risked his life 3 different times for his country, for you and me.... and people walked out because it wasn't interesting. What the eff? There was a disconnect.
And in here lies the problem. Kennedy Space Center itself is a facade for the concept of Space. They borrow soundtracks from Apollo 13, and actors like Leonardo DiCaprio to narrate IMAX 3-d movies, and Disney style attractions. It's cool, real cool- but not what I expected. I expected a tour of a working facility, and more realistic presentation of the work that goes into the space program. What it really is- is a rock and roll, light and magic show that empowers the visitor to feel the triumphs of mankind. To encourage pride, and a shared sense of belief in a common spirit. Much like its religious alternative a few miles away. (I do however highly recommend going if you come to Florida.... Nasa, not Holy Land.)
Again not complaining. I'd do NASA a million times over anything else, its just it goes to prove everything in America is fake. Everything has to be like a Hollywood action flick in order to obtain the interest of the American public. I've know this all along. We want to believe we're better than we actually are, yet I watched these same people push handicap people out of the way to get a ride on an elevator rather than walk the 3 flights of steps me and everyone not speaking English did today. Only in America are handicap elevators used to encourage healthy people to be lazy. I digress though.
I did have an epiphany though. The other day in class, my Euro professor discussed how she didn't understand the concept of Americans always trying to make deals. Like, the student getting a "B", but bargaining for an "A". America is the land of competition, were we're always jockeying for a better position. She asked me "why?", and at the time I didn't have a straight answer. Today I figured it out. It was the cold war. The is is a country born out of competition. It drove us to the moon through the space race. It was great for America then because it moved us forward and ultimately led the country from the brink of war, to a technological revolution. When the cold war ended, so did our space program, our ambitions and what to do with these values we embedded into our culture. We (especially conservatives) transferred these values to capitalism... instead of competing with the Russians- we turned on each other and have been cannibalisng ourselves. Now the very thing we claim is our right as Americans is being killed by the same group of people who tend to feverishly cling to some faux concept of those values while dismantling the space program which birthed the idea. So it's the space program that made America different than Europe or anywhere else on earth... it's just somewhere in all this mess, we've forgotten what we really need is the embodiment on mankinds spirit, of American values: a 30 story Saturn V rocket with enough fuel to make an atomic bomb look like a dreidel.
we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. -JFK
So much of what NASA embodies, I see about myself. In another post we've been talking about people who have never left NC, who don't understand why I want to leave... To me, exploration and travel is part of being human.... without it, I'm afraid I have to question your humanity. Of course a NASA employee put it much more to the point today. "Where would mankind be if he would have looked out of his cave upon the hills and not wondered what was on the other side? Never chose to leave his home and travel to find something better?"
