Farewell Space Shuttle
I am not a science buff. I don’t understand rads, and can only do pi to two decimal places. I can’t tell you the value of ‘e’ and still don’t fully get the use of ‘ln’ on my calculator, although I have a vague recollection that it’s important in radioactivity and exponential decay.
But I am genuinely wowed and moved by space exploration, and the space shuttle missions, and the fact that the last space shuttle has just landed never to fly again, is, for me, a genuinely moving thing. A friend asked why I cared, and I had to rattle off a list of answers, some of which were mine, some of which belong to other people, all of which I’m sure have been deployed by a lot of people over many years. They go something like this:
Economically, the space shuttle missions didn’t just cost a huge amount, they gave back a huge amount through the missions they flew, the science they unlocked, the technology they developed and the equipment they deployed in space. The merest act of establishing a human presence in space has changed the way our world is run, from texting our friends to running the world’s fiscal economy. We have mapped the planet, and the skies, and the seas, and the sun, and so much more beyond, returning both scientific finds of immense value and also practical finds which have changed the way we perceive our world. Very rarely in the history of scientific exploration has man known what he will discover from the the things he explores – the atom was not split with a cry of ‘hey-ho the bomb’ nor were samples taken from cowpox victims with a merry thought of ‘now we shall eradicate smallpox’. By definition, we cannot know what is waiting for us on the other side of ignorance, and this should surely be a motivation, not a hindrance, in exploring the world and what lies beyond it all the more fervently.
The universe is vast and man is tiny, and if man is ever to be anything more than a bit of a blip in the geological map of our rather small planet, then going out into space is what’s next, and this should be celebrated as a universal aspiration for a species, not for just one nation or creed. Through institutions such as the International Space Station – itself a technological marvel – the scientists of the world have achieved a thing that the governments seem fairly poor at obtaining, uniting for a purpose greater than itself and sharing its finds for all and sundry. The exploration of space, and the study of science, are probably the least selfish, most glorious, most aspirational, most unbridled acts of humanity at its best that we as a species can afford. To ask why, and where, and how, and to look beyond this planet and the five thousand years of cock-up and petty history that has defined so much of our existence, to come to that point where our conception of the world is so much bigger than just ourselves or even the ground we stand on, is surely how we as a species are going to evolve. To pursue a thing not because of riches, or politics, or some ancient doctrine which must be obeyed, but because it is unknown and vast and wonderful, is nothing if not a noble pursuit, and the space shuttle helped us and became a symbol to us of that endeavour.
Although to be frank, Nature Magazine probably puts it better with this…
