ANNIVERSARY: The Right Stuff Gone Shabby

It is almost fifty years ago to the day that John Glenn became the first man to ever orbit the Earth. It was a momentous achievement not only for the United States space program but for all human endeavour into outer space.



Just over seven years later Neil Armstrong became the first man to step onto the moon. A few years after that it was the turn of a series of space shuttle flights, interspersed with space stations, probes into outer space and even a little rover stumbling around a few square feet of Mars - or so it seemed.

It would seem that so much has happened in space exploration in the past fifty years since John Glenn bravely zipped around the world in his little capsule.

Or has it?

Yes, there have been space shuttle triumphs and even space shuttle tragedies, and probes have indeed beamed back fantastic, surreal images from the far reaches of our galaxy and even beyond. Yes, the International Space Station lasted quite a few years and was disbanded just last year (I believe) amidst some fanfare abouts its many achievements. 

But what of our human exploration of the outer realms, of 'the next level?' What of more extensive space travel that goes above and beyond a few people (and mega rich folks who paid their way) floating around a cramped, rather shabby-looking space station? What of all the talk in decades past of imminent travel to Mars and even the colonization and terraformation of Mars? What of trips beyond our moon and our immediate heavens, even if only for a brave few?

Why does it seem that, for all the talk of great 'breakthroughs' in space exploration every once in a while, it all seems rather damp squib when compared to the heady space age days of the 1960s, '70s and even '80s?

We just don't seem to have progressed quite as far and quite as flashily as we should have done. Especially when you consider all the phenomenal technological breakthroughs that have occurred in recent years right here on Earth. Changes that have re-shaped the very human existence as we know it. Space exploration, especially by humans, seems to have become almost pedestrian in comparison...

Why so?

The dissolution of the Soviet Union certainly took the urgent fizz out of the space race that was such a cornerstone of Cold War bragging rights. But is that the only reason, especially for the only remaining 'superpower?'

Or could it possibly be the fact that maybe, just maybe, endless wars that cost billions and billions to wage (if you pardon the pun) somehow take precious public money away from a more 'trivial' and less urgent 'expense' like, say, space exploration?

Wars on Earth preventing us all from the joys and collective knowledge acquired from accelerated space exploration? Surely not, hey?

Those brave men who certainly had the right stuff have certainly had their legacy made most shabby in just a half century, give or take.

Do you get my point?