Thoughts About the Final Launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, July, 18, 2011

I watched Atlantis launch on the 135th and final shuttle mission from KARS Park, Merritt Island, FL along with countless other space enthusiasts and NASA employees. It was bittersweet and very emotional for me, with the clouds partially obscuring the launch as the Shuttle program is coming to an end. As a space enthusiast and a space educator, even though I had viewed two other launches (one of them Atlantis in 2007), I felt compelled to be in Florida in person to witness and cheer Atlantis on her final climb uphill.

Seeing the smoke and hearing the roar of her engines, even over the enthusiastic cheering of the viewers, was very sad, knowing that there would never be a live shuttle launch again. Needless to say, there was not a dry eye as she finally disappeared into the clouds on her way to the ISS. I have been watching the mission daily via NASA TV and will be watching, through teary-eyes as Atlantis lands for the last time on July, 21st.

The place that really defined how much the shuttle program means to average people, Americans as well as people from all over the world (people from New Zealand, Hawaii, Ireland and Scotland, as well as Europeans, Asians) whom I met that weekend, was the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. I think that all of the 750,000 estimated people who came down for the launch were at the Complex before, during and after the launch! Everyone good naturedly endured long lines at the gift shops, eating sites and exhibits and tours. All those I spoke with had the same thought-the program should not be ending, especially without a successor craft to get humans into space.

The Shuttle Program has defined American technological and scientific expertise for the past 30 years. From launching satellites to view Earth and the cosmos, to performing important scientific work that has resulted in benefits for society as a whole on Earth to the building of the International Space Station, the shuttles have been the visible means to bring society together.

Also, the shuttles have inspired countless young people to pursue careers in science, engineering and other technological pursuits. This will be lost or severely interrupted as the program ends. The shuttles not only built the space station but were responsible for an unprecedented cooperation among many countries.

It will be several years before commercial companies will be ready to ferry humans into space. The universe awaits mankind, and we cannot let our innate desire to explore and learn slip until the new craft are ready. We must, as members of the National Space Society, continue to strive for human space flight and to educate and inspire the next generation so that when new craft are ready, they will be ready and eager to explore for us.

Susan Raizer
NSS member

If you missed the launch, you don't have to miss the crew!

You're invited to Ellington Field Hangar 990 on Friday, July 22, at 4 p.m. to honor Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus at the STS-135 Crew Return Ceremony.

Along with JSC Director Mike Coats, family, friends, colleagues and public guests are invited to wish the Atlantis crew well as they return from a successful mission in space. Gates to Ellington Field will open at 3:30 p.m.

Please note: Crew return is open to the public; no JSC badge is needed.

Also note, the hangar is not air-conditioned. Water is provided, but dress accordingly.

Crew will sign some autographs afterwards--bring your own photos!

To the stars,

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor

NSS Director Jeffrey Liss offered his short story which was originally published in Artemis magazine in the summer of 2000, and that seems especially appropriate now. With his permission, I am posting it to this blog. I hope it will stimulate some discussion among the membership.

As for my own thoughts, I was fortunate enough to share some of them via NPR's "To the Point" show that aired on Friday, July 8. You can listen to host Warren Olney, myself, Architect Thom Mayne, and Astronomer Johathan McDowell discuss dreams of living on the Moon and the possibiliites of space solar power online. (The first 13 minutes is reporter Scott Powell at KSC.)

If you'd like to comment about the NPR show, Jeff's story, or share some of your own thoughts about the last Shuttle flight, please join me and others on our Facebook page.

To the stars,

-- Marianne Dyson, NSS Advisor, former Space Shuttle Flight Controller

http://www.mdyson.com

THE LAST NAUT

By Jeffrey G. Liss

As smoke from his small campfire twisted futilely toward indifferent stars, Ben Martin Jennings searched the heavens for that empty shell he had once called home, which the world called "Glasnost."

Nothing moved across the New Mexico sky. For the umpteenth time in the past fourteen months, he berated himself for having discarded his ephemeris. No man could remember the orbits of an abandoned piece of space history circling the planet seventeen times a day. But in self-honesty, he also acknowledged that a star chart was the last thing he wanted around. Or have the tribesmen see.

Sighing, he rose and strode into the night to check the sheep, a clear, cool, frost on the breath night, like the one in December 1972 on which his multi-million mile odyssey had started.
* * *

It began with his father's gently kneading his shoulders. "Ben, wake up. Get dressed." Ben rubbed the sleep from his eyes. A glance told him it was before dawn. He sat up, puzzled. It was too early for kindergarten.

"We're taking a trip, you and I," Matthew Jennings said. "Hurry, we want to be on the road by sun-up."

Five-year-old Ben scrambled to comply, wondering. Had he done something wrong? Could it involve his parents' argument the night before, when, through the doorway, he saw his mother shaking her head and his father standing straight and determined?

Explanations not forthcoming, Ben dressed and wolfed down his oatmeal. His mother put on his coat, gave him a surprisingly long hug, then led him to the door. "Come, Ben, your father is waiting. Have a good trip."

Their weather-beaten pick-up truck bounced down the dirt road from their farmhouse onto the two-lane central Illinois highway that linked Ben to most of his friends, but long before it hit an Interstate he had dozed off. He woke to see his father staring intensely at the road. "Dad?" Ben said. When there was no answer, he said it louder, "Dad?"

His father shook his head briefly. "Good morning, son. How are you feeling?"

"Ok. Where are we going?"

His father hesitated, "We are going to see a rocket take off." The strangely somber way he said it puzzled Ben, not like the way he said they were going into town, or to visit the Allens or even to visit Aunt Clara in Chicago.

"Oh." Ben had seen rockets on television. He guessed it would be interesting to see one in person.

"The rocket will be taking off in Florida. Do you remember where that is?" Ben smiled, "Sure." He had been good at his United States jigsaw puzzle. Florida was the funny state with the long handle at the bottom right. His father nodded approvingly.

Highways, gas stations, restrooms and restaurants blended one into another. They passed farm after farm and occasionally saw the towers of a city in the distance. Ben marveled at the bigness of the country. The mountains they crossed enthralled him, but what seemed strangest was not seeing the long clean line of the horizon.

Ben had never before spent a night in a motel. That and just the talking and being alone with his father made him feel very grown up.

By late afternoon the next day the land had flattened and traffic grew heavy. Tires vibrated soothingly against road. Ben dozed.

His father shook him awake. The sun was gone and the truck was parked. Ben saw with astonishment that cars lined both sides of the road as far as he could see in both directions. People stood alongside many, some with binoculars, some with cameras. In the distance a puddle of light illuminated a thin, white rocket. Except for some engine exhausts and an occasional hint of a conversation, there was stillness.

"Ben," his father said, pointing, "Pay close attention." His voice held a tightness that Ben had never heard. "That's Apollo 17. That's the last one. This is the last time men will be going to the Moon."

Matthew turned on the radio and swept the tuner from station to station, until a voice came on: "T minus two minutes, and counting." Ben felt his father's hands tighten on his shoulders.

Suddenly the radio said. "T minus thirty seconds, and holding." His father bent closer to the radio. Ben sensed the disappointment as his father explained that there would be a delay. How long, Ben asked. I don't know, Matthew said. "They might even cancel the launch. In that case, Ben, I'm afraid we'll have to go home, and we won't be able to come back." He said that with the greatest sadness Ben had ever heard.

His father saw Ben's confusion, reached over and placed Ben on his lap. "Son, see that rocket there? That's the greatest thing men ever built. Do you remember those pictures of cave men? Well, we all were cave men once. But we learned to make clothes, build machines and explore new places. Do you remember covered wagons? They discovered new places and made a wilderness into our country. The moon is so far away, it would be like traveling from home to here 240 times, and there is no air to breathe. But three years ago we learned how to build rockets to get there -- there's always a way if you look hard enough -- and some day the things we learned while doing that will help make our lives even better. That rocket represents the very best within us. And you can tell your children you were here to see it go."

His father fell silent, closing his eyes, bending his head. Ben felt that somehow he ought to be comforting his father, but he couldn't figure out why. With radio as background, they huddled together unspeaking, thinking about the moon and the night and the stars.

Abruptly his father turned up the radio and broke the warmth of their almost two-and-a-half hour silence. "Quick, it's going now."

They scrambled to the window. A few seconds later a blast of light transformed the midnight into -- it wasn't like daytime, but was more awesome, like Ben imagined in church it would be when the angels came. And then, as that slim rocket rose slowly on a column of flame, the red and yellow radiance was reinforced by the sound of thunder that rolled through the truck and over the silent throngs. What power, Ben thought, to make such a noise so loud so far away. Who could even imagine how to do it.

Behind him his father grasped his shoulders, whispering, "Never forget. Never . . . ."

The rocket rose ever more swiftly into the sky, disappearing into distant clouds. Slowly the light dimmed and the thunder died. Even the belated clapping of some of the spectators ceased. There was a total silence broken finally by the starting of one engine after another.

"Oh, Dad," Ben whispered, "that was beautiful." He hesitated, curiosity mingling with excitement, then asked, "Why was it the last?"

His father shook his head slowly, "I don't know." He looked as sad as he sounded. "I just don't know."

It was a long ride home, mostly in silence, Ben and his father each lost in his own thoughts.
* * *

The moon never again looked quite the same to Ben, no matter how many nights he went outside to stare at it. His doodles became filled with rockets, and he fell in love with Star Trek re-runs. In third grade his father bought him one of Heinlein's juvenile novels. Ben prowled the library and bookstores until he had devoured them all, and daydreamed of opening strange new worlds. By seventh grade he had found Clarke's stories of human destiny and Asimov's psychohistories. From there he swept into real history and biography.

Along the way he acquired a small telescope, and the moon and planets leaped closer. Enlisting a few friends, he sent away for model rockets and watched lovingly assembled kits leap proudly upward until their quick, sad return to Earth.

By high school dreams evolved into determination, and determination into achievement. He graduated the best math-science student his school had ever produced. In his spare time he did grunge work at the local airport, but he had talked the operator into giving him flying lessons in exchange.

Too soon, and yet too slow, high school ended. At the senior prom he and Sally Brown danced slowly around the ribboned gym. Marveling as always at how she could be both so soft and so firm, he squeezed her closer. Yet part of him felt like an outsider just observing them, and he puzzled over how he could be so detached while inhaling her fragrance. Perhaps, he thought, he was withdrawing because one chapter was closing and a dramatic new one beginning. Sally was headed for the U of I, but both knew she would return to the heartland to teach school. Whereas Ben was bound for -- who knew where? But he would not be returning home.

"Let's go out and look at the moon," he whispered, "It's almost full tonight."

Sally leaned back against his arm, repressed a giggle and looked at him closely. "I'm not sure I like the way you look at the moon," she finally teased. "Are we going to look for crater shadows again?" He pressed her waist toward the door and murmured softly, "There's always another way."

He whizzed through college and then acquired two post-graduate engineering degrees. "The next chapter of history will be in space," he told his classmates. "That's where I am going."

Against the odds, perhaps from some ironic destiny, Ben was one of just fourteen chosen for his class of astronauts, out of 4300 applicants.
* * *

The usual cacophony of canned music greeted Ben as entered the Two Thousand One, the latest in a long line of Houston watering holes favored by astronauts. He squeezed into a booth occupied by three other astronaut candidates, Braulio Vicintin, Alan Spenser and Judi Kane.

"Hi, Ben," they greeted him. "Where've you been?"

"Albuquerque and Santa Fe, talking to three high schools and two Chambers of Commerce."

"That's beautiful country," Alan said, "the high desert."

"It is. Awesome. It reminded me of Buzz Aldrin's description of the moon, 'magnificent desolation.' I'm going back someday. Your soul can soar there."

"How were the kids?" Braulio asked.

"Enthusiastic, as usual. They wanted to know what it felt like when the rockets start booming." He grinned. "Sure wish I knew."

"And the Chambers?"

Ben shrugged. "The same," he said. "Nothing special."

Judi squeezed his hand. "Come, Ben, let's dance."

A former gymnast, former ballet student, Judi made even Ben feel like a graceful dancer. Cushioned into his shoulder on the crowded floor, she said finally, "You didn't sound very enthusiastic."

Ben looked down at the five and a half foot astronomer with the short brown hair, pert features and a smile that always bedazzled him like the novas she studied. Sharing a determination to be one of the lucky few from their class to actually get into space, they nonetheless had grown close enough during their intense training to share their most secret dreams. She wanted to dance in zero G and then run an observatory on the Lunar farside. He wanted to retire on the moon and write history. Or perhaps be mayor of Luna City. "I don't fool you, do I?" he responded.

"Let me guess," she continued. "Those successful businessmen gave you a standing ovation and treated you like a hero. And you don't feel like one."

"Right," he sighed. "I haven't done anything to deserve it. I'm just in training."

"Ben," she said, pressing more tightly against him, "look at this way. Maybe you haven't flown. But you will. In the meantime you're a symbol of NASA, which is a symbol of the country, like the flag. When they salute you, they are saluting the country and the very best of it. You give them hope. You are not a fake."

At that moment, astronaut Lynne Zealand rushed in and whispered to the bartender, who turned on the giant TV above the bar. ". . . Congress completed work on NASA's budget. As threatened for many years, deep cost cutting has hit the nation's space program. The U.S.'s international space station has been put on hold, the shuttle replacement launch system has been put on hold, astronaut recruitment has been frozen, and the NASA budget has been cut 40% . . . ."

Judi turned to Ben and watched the big farmboy struggling to hold back tears.
* * *

Ben's class received their astronaut wings, but much of the exhilaration was gone. Congress' final cancellation of the space station at year-end was almost anti-climactic. Already the wait for flight assignments was years long. More than half the astronauts resigned, bailing out into private industry while they could.

Judi's astronomical research fell within the new NASA parameters. She joyously stayed in. Ben simply could not tell himself that there was no way to realize his dream. There has got to be a way, he thought. He stayed in, too.

More than that, Ben somehow felt that if he dropped out, it would be he who had betrayed the future. He could not live with such guilt.

Then, months later, a jolt of hope. He opened his door and an excited Judi swept into his apartment. "Ben, did you hear the news! The Russians have invited us to join them. You're going into Space!"

From Russia came an offer that even ostrich American politicians could not ignore. The proposal was to combine the leftover elements of the abandoned Mir and U.S. programs to build a small multinational space station, to be known as "Glasnost." Engineer astronauts like Ben would be needed.

They hugged each other and laughed around and around the room.
* * *

When Judi debarked with the rest of the "Endeavour" crew, she turned at the ramp bottom and stared at the old shuttle, with its American flag and Russian star, and gestured in a half salute. Then, wiping a tear, she turned to meet Ben Jennings.

"Oh, Ben," she said, "it was so wonderful. It was all that I imagined. If only I could go back."

There was nothing Ben could say. Her flight had been to the Hubble Space Telescope. Ben had monitored the satisfaction in her voice as she successfully made the last adjustments that would be necessary for years. He also had heard the excitement in her voice as amidst her dry reports to Mission Control she tortuously inserted the word specially coded for him, "Spider." She had danced her dance in zero G and, at least for that, she was at peace with herself.

The next flight would be Ben's. But budgetary pressures had never ceased. It would be the last manned flight for the indefinite future.
* * *

The blue marble of Earth spun gloriously below. Ben sighed. At the airlock, Yuri Korolev grinned. "You never tire of that view, do you?"

Ben sighed again, watching the American west slipping noiselessly past the terminator into a long night. "No. I never do and I'll never forget it."

Yuri said gently, in his Russian accented English, "I guess we are through here. Everything's packed, and the old home is bare and clean. Ready for the next tenants, except there won't be any."

Ben said absently, "Will the last person to leave please turn off the lights." In response to Yuri's puzzled look, he added, "Sorry, friend, that's just an old expression I remember reading somewhere."

Yuri knitted his thick brows, "Who shall be the last to leave?"

"I'll flip you for it," Ben grinned.

"Very funny," Korolev returned, waving his hand to indicate the zero gravity in which they were floating. They eventually settled on scissors, stone and paper.

On such whimsical decisions does the fate of humans turn.

After taking a last, anguished look at humanity's greatest achievement, Ben crawled through the airlock, slammed the massive door, spun the locking mechanism, and joined Yuri in the re-entry capsule. Forty-five minutes later he ignited the retro rockets that started them on the long retreat to Earth.
* * *

"Why a ticker tape parade?" Ben asked. "I didn't do anything."

"Just be quiet and smile," Judi said. "What the President commands, astronauts do."

"Grounded astronauts," Ben muttered.

Judi continued. "I think the real reason is that everyone feels a little uneasy about the end of the manned space program. The President wants to do something to celebrate our achievements in space. Everyone likes a hero, and people may stop asking whether someone made a big mistake.

"As the very last human in space, you're special, and a logical focus. So just get going, hero, and remember to smile." She reached up and kissed him gently.

The longer the parade went on, the more uncomfortable Ben grew. Why were all these thousands cheering him? Why were parents holding up their children? What justified this adulation. All he had done was close the door. He felt like a fraud.

He had not pushed back the frontier. He had fled before it. He was a symbol of failure.

At parade's end, the President presented him with the Medal of Freedom. Ben felt faint. He couldn't wait to get away.
* * *

"I don't understand," Judi said, her gentle, curious voice coming clearly -- ironically, Ben thought, via satellite relay. "You are 'the Last Naut,'" a hero to everyone. Why did you resign? There's still some work for astronauts. And things could still change. They'll need us back in space someday."

"I'm sorry, Judi," Ben said, "It's hard to explain. Space is just a charade now. I can't make myself just go through the motions. I am no hero. I am ashamed to wake every morning and face in the mirror the ghost of what could have been. At least you found some real work searching for near-Earth asteroids."

Judi asked, "Well, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," he said. "Rest a while. I can always teach or go into industry. Maybe I'll go on the lecture circuit to push space. You know, fight the good fight, tilt at windmills, turn the country around. Call me Rocky. Dad said there's always a way if you look hard enough. But, God, I am going to miss you."

"Me, too, Ben."
* * *

The chicken was rubbery, the toasts flowery, the speeches droning, just like all the other banquets.

Mayor Robert Morgan continued his praise of Martin. "A genuine American hero. . . . a home-town boy, one of our very own, who made good. . . . reflects the dedication of the American pioneers . . . ."

Ben almost gagged, and he knew his late father would have understood. But at the sight of his mother, sitting proudly at the table below the dais, Ben swallowed, took a deep breath, and sat a little more erect.

Afterwards, people crowded around him. A reporter from the local newspaper asked, "What are you most proud of, sir?"

Ben paused, mentally shrugged "what the hell" and said, "Nothing, really. Actually I am ashamed of what I did, what I am. The last human in space. Don't you feel embarrassed that I'm the last? Is quitting the kind of thing you honor?"

The reporter didn't know what to say, but he knew those words were not what his editor wanted. Without putting pencil to paper, he just went on, "Uh, well, what would you say were the principal influences on your life?"

Ben sighed. As soon as decent he extricated himself from the crowd and went home. He slept restlessly that night.
* * *

The space industry was virtually dead, but Big Business could always use heroes, especially one who was a skilled engineer. There was always a consulting assignment for Ben Martin Jennings. That gave Ben time and occasions for touring the country.

In New York City he urged the Association of Business Executives to fight for the renewal of the manned space program, reminding them that it had more than paid for itself. "For example," he asked, "don't you remember the Chapman study? That study found that just one percent of non-space applications of NASA technology during just one eight-year period generated more than $21.6 billion in sales and benefits, 352,000 mostly skilled jobs, and $355 million in federal corporate income taxes -- not to mention personal income taxes paid by those workers, whole new industries created, and incalculable benefits resulting from an improved quality of life."

In the question period they asked what it felt like when the solid rockets lit off, and what it was like to work with the Russians. No one asked how they could get the space program re-started. At the end they gave him a standing ovation, said he was a hero, asked for his autograph and rushed back to their offices.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ben reminded the Society of American Historians of the economic and intellectual vigor created by America's frontiers, now all closed except for space. He reminded them of China 500 years ago, a dominating commercial nation until the Emperor decided he had more important things to do at home and recalled and dismantled his vast fleet, leaving his people in the world's impoverished backwater for half a millennium. "No society has ever gone wrong betting on the frontier," he declared, and challenged the academics to lead the resurrection of America's space frontier.

They asked him what it felt like to be weightless.

Ben walked disconsolately back to his empty hotel room. "O, my country! My species!" he cried silently into the night. "None are so blind as who will not see." He jammed his hands into his pockets. It was cold out, and there were no stars.

When Ben addressed the National Conference of Churches he pointed out that all the wealth that went into the Vatican might have fed all Italy for a few weeks, and then would have been gone; but concentrated in the Vatican, that awe-inspiring investment became a focal point with the power to influence millions for centuries. The space program -- with humans speaking from other worlds -- also would have a power to inspire a tolerance of a diverse humanity far beyond its cost. "If only you will help."

The clergymen asked how astronauts celebrated the Sabbath when circling the world seventeen times a day, how often and when they might celebrate Christmas during the 687-day Martian year, whether Martian colonists could celebrate harvest festivals, and how Moslems among them could face Mecca. They didn't ask about finding God.

In state after state Ben talked to teachers, reminding them how the manned space program was the biggest motivator in attracting students to math and science, the basis for the country's future economy. They crowded around afterwards, seeking autographs and having their pictures taken with him. Then they went on to discuss how to get more money for teacher salaries from the federal government.

In Kansas City he talked to farmers. "I have been a farmer. As the world's population quadruples in the next decades, we will need the resources from space -- solar power, metals, gasses. Just like our crops, before we can harvest them, we've got to invest in building and tending the machines we need. Space technology has been the seed corn for our new industries. We should never stop investing in seed corn."

"How did it feel," they asked, "sitting atop that big rocket waiting for all those explosives to go off?"

Everywhere, there were accolades for his bravery, and each time he cringed more. Richmond, Dubuque. Boston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Birmingham. Duluth, Sacramento, St. Louis, Portland. He crisscrossed the country. His earnestness fought with the jadedness of repetition as everywhere he sought some fertile ground for his message, some understanding of his urgency. There has got to be a way, he insisted to himself, to make them understand.

And everywhere they hailed him as hero, hearing the messenger -- but never the message.

The miles and the months swept by, taking their toll. "I'm sorry, Dad. I just can't find a way." Exhausted, and with the stars no nearer, he finally gave up.
* * *

Bearded and bedraggled, Ben Martin Jennings trudged up the dirt road. Two hours and six miles back he had left the cluster of adobe buildings that passed as a village in New Mexico. The sun was setting as he crossed a final rise and descended into the camp below, a group of shacks and huts at the edge of a small mesa dotted with sheep and a few garden plots. The community, numbering perhaps three dozen hopelessly intermixed descendants of various Indian tribes and Mexicans, watched his approach.

Ben handed to the headman who came forward the well creased envelope with the introduction he had received from a sympathetic New Mexican rancher:
“Dear Miguel,
“This letter will introduce my friend Ben Jennings, who knows farming and cows and goats. He would like to stay with you for a while, and would learn to help you tend your sheep and anything else he can do. Please help him if you can.”

The headman studied Ben a moment, and then turned to the others, "A moment, Senor." As they passed around the letter, a streak of fire lit the sky, and all looked up at the dramatic shooting star -- Ben had never seen one so vivid. As it faded into the distance, Miguel said, "A good omen. You are welcome, Senor."

Time passed, and the seasons. Some of the tensions eased out of Ben as the rhythm of life absorbed him. No newspapers, no radio, no television. Just people doing what their ancestors had done for a thousand years, subsisting and minding their own business.

No one knew his past life. No one called him hero, he who had failed in his past life. That burden was gone. He felt the accomplishment of safeguarding his sheep, nurturing crops in his garden, and participating in the community life, singing and helping teach the eight children.

But each night Ben would stare up at the stars, and each night they would stare back. Were they mocking him? Was this all life was for?

Some nights Miguel's older son joined him, Juan, whose eyes shone with the joys of discovery as he soaked up all the math Ben could convey and who confided to Ben that some day he would explore the whole world beyond the valley. Sometimes Juan would point up and wonder, were there worlds up there he could explore, too? Ben squeezed his eyes shut without answering.
* * *

The sheep were doing fine, and Ben returned to sit before his small fire, blowing to warm his hands. He reached into his pocket for the letter he already had read a dozen times. "The first letter I've delivered out here in two years," the postman had said.

He read:
“Dearest Ben,
“It's been over a year since you dropped from sight; I had the devil of a time tracking you down. Things have changed and we need you here -- and I miss your naive earnestness. You were right after all -- there was a way to get people excited about the space program again. Only we didn't see it until it almost hit us over the head.
“Shortly after you disappeared, the world got a great shock. One of those Earth orbit crossing asteroids I've been looking for -- but didn't find in time -- grazed the atmosphere. I heard that the fireball lit up the southwest. Perhaps you saw it. In any event, so soon after the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet's monstrous impacts on Jupiter, we recognized the opportunity. Where logic and vision failed to show the way, fear finally did. The UN, the USA, and just about everybody else have now agreed they'd better take space more seriously, if only to deal with this threat. NASA's budget has been doubled for Project Spaceguard, and all experienced astronauts and cosmonauts are being recalled. Especially engineering astronauts. They are going to put me in charge of an asteroid-searching observatory on Luna's farside, and I need your help to build it.
More than that, the "Last Naut" still carries a lot of P.R. clout and you might be indispensable to make sure the fervor doesn't die down. The public remembers your crusade and, if they see you back out front, I don't think they will let their hero down a second time. NASA awaits you.
“Love,
“Judi
“P.S. For some reason, I am still single. Hurry back.”

Ben stuffed the letter back in his pocket and looked up, whispering to the beckoning stars, "You're right, Judi. There's always a way. We'll build new worlds for Juan and his children. And ours."

It was time to go home.

END

JSC Director Mike Coats, himself a former shuttle astronaut, noted that the crew’s circadian was completely out of sync with ours—that 4 PM was actually in the middle of their sleep period for the past three weeks. I wondered why we didn’t just move the ceremony earlier—it would also have been cooler. But for some reason, these events have always been at 4 PM. The time does work well for those who bring their children, though most of the children were more interested in playing with toy rovers and spacemen that were for sale by the JSC Exchange store than in listening to the astronauts.

This welcome home is one of the few times the crew have to publicly thank the team of people who provided their training, supported their families while they were away, and prepared the shuttle and its payloads for the mission. Commander Mark Kelly thanked them all and especially his two daughters, Claudia and Claire, who were there. Noting some of the science team in attendance, he also thanked Dr. Ting, the lead scientist on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and said he was grateful that he’d given his team a break from analyzing “50 million particles a day” to attend the event.

Commander Kelly counted the opportunity to interact with children “from my wife’s district in Tucson” as one of his personal highlights of the mission. He said that an important part of the Shuttle Program is to inspire students, and that “we always appreciate the chance to do that.”

Kelly then introduced the pilot, Greg Johnson, nicknamed “Fox.” He’d been asked to discuss ascent. He said the “vehicle on the launch pad is like a live animal.” He said his view of the ocean to the east was very peaceful, and those moments of solitude just before liftoff were in sharp contrast to the experience of launch. Launch “is a sight and a feeling that I can’t describe fully, but is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

Next to speak was Mike Fincke who now holds the American record for time spent in space: 382 days. He did his ninth spacewalk on this flight. He said, seeing “the whole world in 90 minutes is amazing.” He also mentioned the joy of doing some “Iron man maneuver” that somehow I missed, and hope to hear more about at the more formal post-flight event at Space Center Houston in a few weeks. As a former space station commander, he said the “station is in my heart,” and reminded everyone that three men remain there now: Ron Garan, Andrey Borisenko (commander), and Alexander Samokutyaev.

Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori thanked the rest of the crew for giving him a new nickname “Ricky Bobby” which he said had something to do with watching a movie together? This is another story that I hope to hear more about at another time. He said “reentry was a very special part of the flight” for him, and very different from a return in the Soyuz which he’d done before.

Drew Feustel was one of the spacewalkers, along with Finke and Chamitoff. He had previously worked on the Hubble repairs, so this was his first trip to the space station. The size of it really impressed him. “Hubble is a lot smaller.” Like all the others, he thanked his family, and then delighted the crowd by saying, “Happy anniversary, honey,” to his wife Indie.

Drew introduced Greg Chamitoff, who, along with Fincke, had previously been a space station crewmember. He said that “Greg and Mike tried to stow away,” prior to undocking.

Chamitoff said the all-male crew had “become like brothers” and shared “an adventure together.” He recalled when Fincke had joined his station crew that he’d followed him around so he could speak English again. He said the two of them really enjoyed being in space together and that Fincke would often wake him up enthusiastically in the morning by saying, “Greg, guess what?! We’re in space!”

Chamitoff and Johnson challenged the world to a game of chess during the mission, and he thanked NASA’s Public Affairs team for setting that up. The Earth team won, by the way. The Phd scientist waxed quite eloquent about his spacewalk to install the AMS that will address the “fundamental questions of the universe.” He said the view from the top of the platform outside was “breathtaking,” and called the International Space Station “the greatest achievement of our time.”

Seeing the station with the backdrop of the Earth behind it got him thinking about technology and nature and how many people think the two are at odds with each other. But what he saw “was not a clash. It was a perfect blend. The station was an extension of Earth.” He was overwhelmed with the feeling that “we belong there and this is our future.” He closed his remarks by congratulating everyone for the successful completion of the International Space Station.

It took more than 1,000 hours of spacewalking time and 36 shuttle flights over 13 years. But it’s done. Assembly complete.

The international laboratory in space is now fully operational. Some say the shuttle’s greatest legacy is the Hubble repair missions. Repairing the Hubble was a perfect demonstration of what humans can do in space, and the Hubble certainly has forever changed our view of the universe and our place in it.

But I believe the Shuttle’s true legacy is as the builder and enabler of the International Space Station. This first true stepping stone to living and working in space would not have been possible without the workhorse of the shuttle to bring large pieces up with large crews to assemble them.

As we move on to the next phase of space development, operating and sustaining a laboratory in space with the aid of new commercial vehicles, it’s important to stop and look at what we’ve accomplished, like Chamitoff did from atop the station. Look. There really is a new star in space that shines a beacon of light on all who take the time to view it.

Welcome home to the star builders. My sky is brighter now because of you.

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor

Besides Kelly, the all-male crew includes Pilot Greg Johnson, Spacewalkers Mike Fincke, Andy Feustel, and Greg Chamitoff, and Roberto Vittori who is doing all the heavy lifting (of the robotic arm).

The average person will likely know Kelly’s name, but be hard-pressed to name the others (that’s why I listed them up front—space geeks should know these things!).

What they do know is that this is almost the last Space Shuttle launch, and the last for Endeavour, which will be headed to a museum in California after this flight. So though the stated purpose of this flight is to deliver the Alphamagnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and other supplies to the International Space Station ISS), what the public cares about is the launch.

Seeing humans launch into space is one spectacle that is on a lot of people’s “bucket” lists. And if they miss this shuttle launch or the next one, the only option for the near future is to travel to Kazakhstan and watch a Soyuz launch. I’m sure that must be pretty spectacular, too, but the sheer size of the shuttle produces a more thunderous show. Plus there aren’t any beaches or Disney World’s near Kazakhstan.

Politicians have been focused on the effect of the shuttle’s retirement to the aerospace workers, and it certainly is a huge blow. Thousands of dedicated skilled employees will be getting pink slips this very week--notices that come July, they will have to find some other way to pay the mortgage.

And all the businesses that depend on launch tourism will be in trouble, too. Sure, some folks will still want to tour the (barren) launch pads and buy space souvenirs. The military launches some cool rockets, though none with people on them. The beach is still the beach.

But let’s face it, there’s nothing like the promise of the roar and spit of a blastoff carrying astronauts in blazing glory across the sky to make you decide to stick around another night at the hotel, gulp down a cold drink with a friend, and buy a plastic space shuttle for the kids.

So, I hope the politicians take notice of all the hundreds of thousands of people watching this launch and the next, last, one. Not only do the crowds prove that space remains important to the public, this week’s tourist dollars probably paid for the launch.

Speaking of paying for launch, even if you can't afford to travel to Florida, you can help support space by using the Amazon links on the NSS site. Just go to http://www.nss.org/books page and use the link at the top. You don’t have to buy one of the reviewed books—any purchase (software, tools, Kindle, etc.) made after using the link will earn NSS a credit and cost you nothing.

Flight Overview

Assuming the flight goes off on Monday, Endeavour will dock to the station on Wednesday at 5:15 a.m. Houston (CDT) time. (I’ll be on my way to Huntsville, Alabama for the ISDC. I hope to see many of you there!)

The shuttle crew will be out of sync with the ISS crew day. The shuttle crew will be going to bed in the afternoons, starting at around 3 p.m. on the first day and shifting to almost 10 p.m. by the end of the flight. They will get up at around midnight the first day, and shift to getting up around 5 a.m. by the last day. The ISS crew will be going to bed around 4:30 p.m. and getting up around 1 a.m. every day.

Quiz for space geeks: how many women are in space right now? Answer: One.

Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Flight Engineers Cady Coleman of NASA and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency have been on ISS since December 2010. In April, NASA astronaut Ron Garan and Russians Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev joined the crew. But during this shuttle flight, the first three will be departing. Their replacements, NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Russian Sergei Volkov and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa are scheduled to launch May 30.

The first spacewalk, by Feustel and Chamitoff, will be Friday, May 20, from 2:21 a.m. to 8:46 a.m. The second one will be Sunday during the same timeframe.

A special event that is sure to produce photos that will be in all the books happens a week into the flight. Next Monday at 6:06 p.m. CDT, the Soyuz TMA-20 will undock from the ISS with Kondratyev, Coleman, and Nespoli. The crew will take photos of the shuttle docked to the ISS from a distance. With Coleman’s departure, there will be no women in space again until the next, and last, shuttle flight.

Quiz for space geeks: what woman is on the STS-135 crew? (Go look it up!)

The third spacewalk will be on Wednesday, May 25, starting a little earlier than the previous two, at 12:51 a.m. and running until 6:46 a.m. The fourth spacewalk will be during the same timeframe in the wee hours of Friday.

The plan is to undock on Sunday the 29th, separate just after midnight on Monday morning and land at KSC at 1:32 a.m. CDT or 2:32 a.m. Florida time. I won’t be surprised if they get an extension to stay in space a few days. Regardless, which day they return, those sonic booms may wake a few folks from their sleep!

The detailed schedule for the flight is online: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts134/fdf/134flightplan.html.

Check for ISS flyovers of your city during the time the shuttle is docked to the ISS when it is especially bright http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/.

I'll be tweeting from the NSS Twitter account during ISDC. Follow the action with #ISDC.

To the stars,

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor

Besides being the last flight of this orbiter, what do you need to know about this flight?

The Crew

The STS-133 crew members are Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Steve Bowen and Nicole Stott. Bowen replaced astronaut Tim Kopra, who was injured in a bicycle accident in January.

The Cargo

Discovery will deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module (Leonardo), the Express Logistics Carrier 4 and provide critical spare components to the International Space Station (ISS), and Robonaut2 (dubbed "R2").

The Highlights

The first spacewalk, with Bowen and Drew, will be on Flight Day 5, Monday from around 11:20 AM to 5:15 PM. They’ll be installing some cable between Unity and Tranquility, moving a broken ammonia pump, and some guides on the truss.

Tuesday they'll be moving the Leonardo to its new home on the Earth-facing side of Unity.

Wednesday is the second spacewalk with Drew and Bowen. They'll be working outside Columbus and with the Dextre arm on the truss. They will also "fill" a bottle with "space" for an educational Japanese museum exhibit.

Thursday is a PAO event at 10:10 AM. Watch for R2 to steal the show.

Friday the hatches close. Saturday (March 5) the shuttle leaves.

Flight Following

Follow Nicole Stott and R2 on Twitter: @Astro_Nicole and @AstroRobonaut.

Please visit NSS’s Facebook page and share your comments about the flight.

Detailed timeline posted on Bill Harwood's CBS News page: http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/flightdata/flightplan.html

The Landing

If launch is on Thursday, February 24, 2011, landing will be 11 days later on Monday March 7, 2011 at 12:44 PM EST at Kennedy Space Center.

Don’t forget, NSS Blitz on Congress is Monday and Tuesday!

To the stars,

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor

The last flight of Discovery, STS-133, originally planned for November, has now been delayed to at least the last week of February--no earlier than February 24. The window remains open until March 6.

The repairs to the big orange external tank couldn't be completed by the earlier Feb. 3 launch window.

No word on the possible launch date for STS-134, the last flight of Endeavour. That had been tentatively planned for the first week of April if Discovery launched the first week of February.

The third shuttle, Atlantis, which flew the last mission in May of 2010, is in the Orbiter Processing Facility at KSC being prepared for a possible rescue flight designated STS-335. Congress authorized a final flight with Atlantis which was tentatively slated for June 2011, but no funding was made available for this flight.

Updates on the shuttles are available on the NASA Shuttle site: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html.

To discuss the flights and other space events, please visit the NSS page on Facebook, comment on a LinkedIn forum, and follow us on Twitter!

To the stars,

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor

This pushes STS-134 to April 1.

Though the Authorization Act approved adding one more flight after STS-134 (tentatively planned for June), there is not yet an appropriations bill to fund it.

Updates/Comments will be posted via the NSS Twitter account and discussed on the NSS Facebook page. Please follow NSS and participate in our growing social network. Your support for space makes a difference, and your comments and suggestions are welcome.

To the stars,

Marianne Dyson
NSS advisor

Updates/Comments will be posted via the NSS Twitter account and discussed on the NSS Facebook page. Please follow NSS and participate in our growing social network. Your support for space makes a difference, and your comments and suggestions are welcome.

To the stars,

Marianne Dyson
NSS advisor

All of the astronauts have flown before: Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe, and Mission Specialists Nicole Stott (the only woman), Michael Barratt, and spacewalkers Tim Kopra and Alvin Drew.

If the launch is on time, Discovery will dock with the ISS on Wednesday just after 1 PM EDT. The first spacewalk is planned for Friday, beginning around 10:30 AM in the morning. That spacewalk will attach the new module to Unity (the module that connects the American and Russian "sides") on the Earth-facing (nadir) port.

Sure to merit some media attention is the delivery of a human-torso robot, Robonaut, being nicknamed R2. We'll have to see if he shows up in any group photos of the crew.

The launch window remains open through Sunday, and then closes until December.

NSS members attending the launch and following the flight are encouraged to visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/NSS.

To the stars,
Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor

What may be the final flight of a space shuttle, has been postponed until February 26, 2011, with liftoff at 4:19 PM. This flight of Endeavour is the last flight currently planned and funded.

Some members of Congress are pushing for at least one more flight after that: of Space Shuttle Atlantis in the June timeframe. Atlantis is being kept on standby in case one of the other flights has significant tile or other damage, requiring the crew to be rescued. Two Soyuz are docked at the station, each capable of returning 3 crewmembers. But those are needed to evacuate the resident crew of the station in the event of an emergency (such as a debris strike or fire), so are not available to return a stranded shuttle crew.

If Atlantis is not needed for a rescue, but is ready to fly, members of Congress have suggested that it be used to take up more spares and supplies before mothballing it for a museum. A decision from Congress is expected by the end of the summer.

The STS-133 flight of Discovery was delayed to allow more time to prepare spares that will be taken aloft inside a multi-purpose carrier: including a pump package, a heat exchanger, and "Robonaut," a robotic human-shaped upper torso that may eventually be used in a spacewalk support role.

Steve Lindsey will command the crew for STS-133. The pilot is Eric Boe. The crew includes two spacewalkers: Alvin Drew and Timothy Kopra, and Mission Specialists Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott. If STS-134 is indeed the last shuttle flight, because it has an all-male crew, Nicole Stott (onthis flight) will be the last woman to fly on a space shuttle.

STS-134 was originally planend for this month, and STS-133 would have been the final flight before shuttle retirement. But the payload, the Alpha Magnetic Sectrometer, was not ready. A late-November or December launch were not an option because of conflicts with other launches and also temperature constraints caused by the high sun angle that time of year.

Those of us planning to view or otherwise commemorate the final shuttle flight, will just have to stay flexible!

Ad astra,

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor
http://www.mdyson.com

The sea of cars slowly creeped toward the KSC Visitor's Center where I joined my husband for a bus ride to the Saturn V building. There were two sets of bleachers outside this building: one set for the extended family of the crew, and another much larger set for NASA and other guests who were fortunate enough to secure passes. The bus guide said that the bleachers hold 2500, but that 5000 people had passes. We ran into several friends --Yohon Lu from Huntsville L5 and Chet Vaughan from the NASA Alumni League. We found a spot on the grass.

In front of us on the grass was a Navy pilot ("Stroke") who had flown with the Shuttle's pilot. He wanted to share this launch experience with his boys, ages 7 and 9. Behind us on lawn chairs was the mayor of Jacksonville, FL and 3 of his college friends who peppered my husband and I with questions about the shuttle after we introduced ourselves as former flight controllers.

A countdown clock behind us served as a great place for folks to get their photo taken, and one excited, smiling group after another lined up beside it.

The launch was spectacular! I had only seen one launch before, and that was from the Causeway. The main difference this time, besides being in daylight (!), was the brightness of the fire sprouting from the tail. The noise, which I had expected to be louder, was actually less--or maybe I've gotten hard of hearing in the intervening ten years! We suspect this was a result of the wind direction.

After launch (see my amateur video on my Facebook page, complete with jiggling camera and pans of the crowd and me waving at the end) we waited in line for a bus back to the visitors' center. We met a young woman who works for Disney who always wanted to see a launch up close, and two women from Ohio (where I am also from).

Later, at the Nebula Awards weekend book signing and reception at the Cocoa Beach Hilton, everyone eagerly shared their launch viewing experiences--some watched from the KARS parking area just outside the KSC gate, some from the Causeway, and at least one from Route 95 where they narrowly avoided a traffic accident as distracted drivers were captivated by the sight of a space shuttle rocketing skyward!

Everyone I spoke with expressed how important it was to them to be here to witness this launch, and the sense of loss we all share that Americans will not be seeing any more of these events after this year.

The STS-132 crew is on their way to the International Space Station, due to arrive Sunday and unload, and via three space walks and transfers, install their cargo of new batteries and other spare parts.

On the bus from the launch, the guide asked if we knew the name of the shuttle commander--and most everyone did. Everyone had buttons and press packs and patches... and their crew photos were plastered everywhere. But when I asked if anyone on the bus knew who was on the space station, my husband and I were the only ones who knew the Americans: T.J. Creamer and Tracey Caldwell Dyson (how could I forget that name!). The other Expedition 23 crew are Oleg Kotov,, Soichi Noguchi, Alexander Skvovtsov, and Mikhail Korenienko.

It is going to be a challenge to keep interest and awareness in human spaceflight once the shuttle is retired-- the out-of-sight, out-of-mind syndrome. The launches will all be in Russia, and only a handful of Americans are likely to ever see one of those.

But coming to this launch was heartwarming and encouraging to me even though the sense of nostalgia is strong. I could see and hear for myself that people DO care about their space program, they care enough to fly and drive and wait in line and take off work and bring their children and spend scarce funds to witness and be part of space history.

Thank you to the NASA team who welcomed the crowds and patiently answered the same questions over and over and got us to where we needed to be with a smile and good wishes for our future.

To the stars!

Marianne Dyson
NSS advisor
http://www.mdyson.com

So says the song by Leslie Fish that I plan to sing along with my friends and fellow space enthusiasts tonight in anticipation of the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis tomorrow.

Not only are many of my fellow NSS members here (Hi Yohon! Hi Yvonne!), but my fellow members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America are holding the annual Nebula Awards activities here at “the Cape” in conjunction with the launch of STS-132. And tonight we gather at the Cocoa Beach Hilton to sing and celebrate with Joe Haldeman who will receive his Grand Master of Science Fiction award at the banquet Saturday night.

If you are in the area after the launch on Friday, please come by the hotel for a group book signing starting around 6 PM. I have free NASA bookmarks for everyone.

I have not seen a launch for more than ten years, and like a lot of space enthusiasts, decided that I just had to experience another before this remarkable flying machine is retired from service.
Launch is scheduled for 2:20 EDT Friday.

The primary mission of the 6-man crew commanded by Ken Ham (called “Hock” for ham hock) is to deliver and install a Russian research and docking module, to install a backup Ku-band antenna system, and to replace six old solar array batteries.

The pilot is Dominic (“Tony”) Antonelli, and the Mission Specialists are Mike (“Bueno”) Good, Steve Bowen, Piers Sellers and Garrett Reisman.

If launch is scrubbed Friday, NASA plans to try again on Saturday.

At the pre-mission crew press conference, I told the crew that a bunch of science fiction writers would be watching the launch, and wondered if any of them had been influenced to go into the space program because of science fiction book or movie. Piers Sellers immediately jumped in with an enthusiastic, “Me!” and proceeded to share how 2001: A Space Odyssey had a “huge influence” on him.

After the camera were off, I asked if he ever read Analog Science Fiction magazine, and he said, “Oh yes, I like Analog!” I told him I had a story in the July/August issue called “Fly Me to the Moon” and he said he’d like a copy. I hope to get a box to share with all my friends (check my Facebook page), and you can bet that a copy will be waiting for Piers when he returns from space!

I’ll be watching, along with tens of thousands of others, as this bittersweet third-to-last shuttle mission launches into space. I was lucky enough to secure a VIP pass, thanks to my husband being a NASA employee, and am looking forward to sharing the launch experience with other members of my NASA “family” from the Banana River site at Kennedy Space Center. I doubt anyone will hear me over the thunder of the launch, but I’ll be singing..

…
"It’s the loveliest show on this Earth that you’ll see
It’s living and real, not just tape on TV.
So come to Canaveral and bring lots of beer-
When the spaceship takes off, we’ll all stand and cheer.

chorus

Politicians ignore us, the media too,
But if they don’t notice, the ships always do.
See her landing so lightly, you’d swear that she cares
That she flies on two wings and a good million prayers.

chrous

So come let’s go watch the takeoff today,
While the world’s biggest beach party cheers her away.
We’ll bang the drums proudly and blow on the conch.
Leave a sign on your door that just says, “Out to Launch!”

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor/SFWA member

This year, Russian President Dmitry Mededev called the space station crew to mark the 49th anniversary of Yuri Gargarin's flight. The six-member Expedition 23 crew gathered for the call in the Destiny lab: 3 Russians; Oleg Kotov, Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko; two Americans: Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Timothy Creamer; and one Japanese, Soichi Noguchi. Working nearby were the 7 space shuttle astronauts, including 3 women, one of them Japanese.

The president told the crew, "Space will always remain our priority. This is not just somebody's interpretation, it's our official state position. I am here in my presidential office and when addressing you, I can confirm again the significance of space for the government."

I found these words very encouraging. And I also greatly appreciated his next sentiment:

"No country can develop space alone, we need to combine our efforts and we need to talk about it more often," Menvedev said.

Yes, I thought. Yes! Let's talk about development, not just cooperation in one lab in space. Let's talk about providing power and resources to the world via solar power satellites, lunar and asteroid mining, supply depots, and space manufacturing!

"So maybe we could have some sort of international meeting, maybe at the heads of governments level," Mededev suggested. "Because we talk about various issues, such as tackling all kinds of challenges, dangers and hazards that humanity is facing these days, various disarmament programs, etc., but there is a very important and positive factor that unites us all. So maybe it would be good to have a summit, maybe at the heads of governments level, for the countries that are working in space. So see, I have a very good idea on this holiday. What do you think?"

I think it is always good to talk more about space! And especially about space development. Once more people understand that sunlight can be collected in space and beamed to Earth without clogging the atmosphere with more carbon dioxide or generating nuclear waste, they will push for a demonstration of this new technology.

President Obama is scheduled to address the workers at Kennedy Space Center later this week. He is reportedly going to emphasize some new research programs. NSS has urged that adoption and a clear recitation of a long-term goal will help motivate and drive research, ultimately making it more productive. The ultimate goal is nothing short of the human settlement of space.

But a great short-term goal would be a demonstration of a space-based solar power satellite. Assembling the space station has created a pool of astronauts and cosmonauts and flight control teams in all partner nations with the experience and tools to tackle this kind of engineering challenge. Private industry is gearing up to provide the launch services, and the number of launches required for a project of this magnitude would surely speed the evolution of reusable lower-cost vehicles.

The Moon and asteroids would be back in our sights as a source for oxygen and metals--teams would be dispatched to learn to extract, process, and ship them for orbital construction needs.

Many space enthusiasts participated in the OSTP Open Government online polls: and the winning idea in three categories (OSTP, Energy, and NASA) was to convene a Space Based Solar Power conference. Now the Russian president has suggested an international meeting about space. Let's combine the two!

I hope I'm not dreaming too big when I suggest an anniversary present for next year, the 50th anniversary of Gargarin's flight, and the 30th anniversary of STS-1, be the agreement among many nations, with Russia and the United States taking the lead, to build the first solar power satellite to produce carbon-free energy to the world.

Let's dream big and bold!

Happy anniversary, and thank you President Mededev for your very good idea!

To the stars,

Marianne Dyson
NSS Advisor
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