Feb. 01, 2003 - 18:44 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Stay Alive

I more or less discovered space as a kid when I read the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories of Barsoom and Vad Varo the dying man in the trenches of World War one who was transported to Mars, instantaneosly and in full health and fitness. Fantasy, yes and a spur to my imagination and dreams of not being the puny, sickly kid I was. I would wish myself there, sitting in the grass at night looking up at the stars.

Then one day I saw a new magazine at the drugstore in our neighborhood, picked it up and took a look. Astounding, hmmm, thought maybe it would be a fancy type of Spicy Detective magazine.Wrong, wrong, wrong, it was I believe, the first issue of Astounding Science Fiction, now known as Analog, a Sci-fi mag.

As I grew up it was easy to see the possibilities of space travel, if only. If only there was the fuel seemed to be the main block, but there were other things such as how to exist in a vacuum. Over the years I read many discussions on space exploration and the possibliltly of "getting out there."

Meanwhile staying immersed in the fantasy of science fiction with the dream that in my lifetime man would be in space.

Then came Sputnik and the monkey flights. Finally my dream came true a man actually went to the moon and stepped down on its surface. I waited and celebrated each advance, fantasy not so actively engaged in anymore.

Finally one of our wildest dreams came true, a space station with its ever burgeoning infrastructure, a platform, a base to work from in the further exploration of space. The flights to and from advancing science and engineering. The Challenger tragedy seemed to make the gung ho types a bit more careful, yet came the terrible flaming crematory flying across our skies today.

Among the blather of the talking heads was the idea of, "We should cut back on the space program." I feel this asininity is so counter productive as to be insane.

The miracle of a space station with shuttle flights to it and back again should not be left to die for lack of funding or other governmental diversion to my way of thinking.

So many stories and articles I have read showing the need to find another inhabitable planet before we choke on our own bodies and planetary pollution. Another planet to produce livestock and plant food. A place where people are not crowded, highways not streaks of crashing cars, a place where sprawl can be controlled. A place where the problems of poverty and hunger can be addressed and solved. Our earth seems to me to be a hive that is rapidly being outgrown and could possibly be the end of mankind if we can't find another planet to live on.

Of course nothing is achieved without pain and sacrifice but I think the pain and sacrifice on this earth will be much greater if we can't find another place to live. How much time do we have left ? I have no idea, but feel time is a wasting.

My dream of the thrill of space exploration, advancement of science and engineering is a wonderful dream, a dream of another planet for earth people, I hope to see it still stay alive in other's minds and hearts until can awaken as a reality some day.

The world lost seven good people today, their families and friends mourn, their co-workers and those who sent them out there mourn and their lives will never be the same, as a nation we mourn. If we cut back space activity in a cowardly way, all those efforts will have been in vain.

In many ways I am still a little boy, praying, "Oh, may my dream Stay Alive . . . . . . . .

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