Lost in Space

Do you like space?  Not wide-open spaces and not your own personal space, although, it is rather annoying when people invade your imaginary personal space borders. I am certainly not talking about extra space you would like to have in order that you can collect more stuff like a packrat or some kind of hoarder, and not extra space to build a man cave or panic room.  However, the more my wife and daughter disagree I think there will be a need for a panic room in the near future for my son and me to hide.  The kind of space I am really talking about is the space above us where the planets orbit, the various satellites float, from where the moon hovers over us at night to provide a beacon of light in the dark, and the sun dangles overhead to brighten and warm our day.  It is cool, right?  The things we know about space, and what is being explored in the giant space that surrounds planet earth is fascinating and cool stuff.  I think it is human nature to be drawn to the things we cannot tangibly experience ourselves or have limited access through pictures, books, and internet searches. 

Space travel and exploration is one of those things we are curious about based on our inability to experience it hands-on and limited information about what is really out there.  Whenever NASA post pictures on the internet from the Hubble Telescope, the Mars Rover or some other probe they have launched into orbit, we have a desire to glance at the pictures, because we want to know if anything new has been discovered or just to see another cool picture of a planet that none of us will ever be able to orbit ourselves like an astronaut.  When I was in grade school I was just as fascinated about space exploration as every other kid.  I remember this guy would come to my school every couple of years or so to give a presentation on the latest space exploration news and other things NASA was developing.  He brought in models of planets, satellites and probes, and always had a slide show of new pictures from space. These pictures were incredible and built an appetite for wanting to see more of the universe that surrounds the planet in which we live that we will never be able to witness first-hand ourselves. There was always this cliff hanging type ending to every presentation with leaving the audience wanting to know more about what NASA was going to do next, but greater  sense of hope about the possibilities involving the future and what this great country could accomplish.

I remember at the end of one presentation the guy mentioned there might come a day when we will land an unmanned probe to explore the planet Mars.  How many Mars rovers have been sent to the planet?  I do not have the actual number, but it has to be close to a handful.   Each time a new rover has been dispatched to the Martian planet it seems better equipped to handle the terrain and the environment, and more tools to conduct additional scientific research than the previous one. Taking thousands of picture of the surface, collection of soil samples, looking for fossils, exploring rock formations and searching for evidence of water, all seems relevant when you are trying to answer the question about life and if it ever existed on a place like Mars.  An important question to ask when you are a scientist dedicating your career in the hopes of finding the answer or at least starting to put together the answer before your life is over.  NASA has never been an agency to disappoint the general public with the “Wow” factors of things they have discovered while exploring planets and providing great pictures to further feed our curious desire to see more. 

Exploring Mars has not been the only top project of NASA over the past 25 years or so.  During the 1984 State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan had a vision of a space station that would constantly be orbiting and inhabited by astronauts from around the world conducting some form of scientific research on a continuous basis.  He challenged NASA to build the station and have it assembled in space within 10 years.  Fast forward to today and the space station Reagan wanted built is about to become space junk as a new international space station has been assembled to replace the outdated and technologically antiquated inaugural one. 

So, what exactly does all this talk about space exploration have to do with autism?  Stay tuned for “Lost in Space Part 2” to find out.