October 1, 2023

Wasted Space

Originally published September 16, 2013

image by Howard Eskildsen, Ocala, Florida

After yesterday's LPOD about the upcoming Chinese rover mission to the Moon, to be followed in a few years by a sample return mission, and with planning underway for a human trip about 10 years from now, Howard's poster is a needed kick in the pants. Howard writes that this image was inspired by a visit yesterday to the Container Store when my wife, Fairy, mentioned how she hated wasted space. A light came on, and I realized how much I hated that we could no longer fly our astronauts into space. This image composition resulted, and is the first of several that I have in mind It is unbelievable that the USA did Apollo and then nothing in human exploration of our solar system for 40 years; and we still have nothing on the drawing board. If human exploration had continued with the same rate of improvement as robotic spacecraft - compare Curiosity with Mariner 9 - we would be all over the solar system by now. When I was young I thought humans would travel widely across space, and that perhaps I would be one of them. But now when I encourage kids to study math and science and maybe they will be the first human to reach Mars I doubt if it will happen. I wish we had inspiring goals. Chuck Wood

Yesterday's LPOD: Not Because It is Easy

Tomorrow's LPOD: A Busy Neighborhood

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