Looking Up Together
Mykel Del Angel|THE COSMIC CURRENT GRAPHICS
What do more than 100 countries across the face of planet Earth have in common during the week of Oct. 4-10? Events shared by space enthusiasts, more than 50,000 at last count!
In 1999, the United Nations thought folks might enjoy sharing space-related events even if their countries did not have space programs of their own. All the world can certainly look up and watch the famed International Space Station or thousands of Starlink satellites cross overhead.
Those of us of a certain age can remember the anxiety surrounding the successful orbit of Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. It does seem strange to say “the last century!” I was in high school at the time, and I remember the anxiety we felt at the thought that, in the middle of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had stolen a march on the United States.
A favorite science teacher may have shown your class the movie “October Sky” or introduced you to “Rocket Boys,” the book on which it was based. The story follows a group of coal miners’ sons who built rockets and eventually competed in the National Science Fair. Perhaps your teacher even connected their experiences to your own local school science fairs.
The momentum of the Space Race helped drive President John F. Kennedy to set the goal of landing Americans on the moon, a vision that ultimately led to the Apollo missions and inspired generations of young people to focus on space exploration. His famous 1962 speech declaring, “We choose to go to the moon ... not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” still rings in my memory.
If you have never watched the movie “Hidden Figures,” now would be a great time to do that. As shameful as segregation was, the courage and fortitude portrayed in the movie can inspire thoughtful reflection on the barriers people faced and the work that remains today. The room-sized computers and the remarkable women whose calculations helped make John Glenn’s orbital mission possible should amaze all of us.
