Backwards — Hope from the Heavens
I've learned a lot about hope in the past few years. I've learned that hope can come from unlikely places, and that hope can be the most powerful ally, even as we are defeated again and again.
My interest in astronomy and space exploration has taught me about hope, because nothing seems as hopeful as a mission into space. But in the wake of the tragedy that befell the space shuttle Columbia, that sense of hope wavered. As I saw the images of Columbia breaking up just minutes before it was due to land, I felt discouraged.
Now, I realize that my feelings of hopelessness are a dishonor to the seven astronauts who were aboard Columbia.
The Columbia tragedy was particularly close to home for me. As a student in the Cooperative Education Program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, I spend part of each year in Greenbelt, Maryland, preparing for a career in science writing. I worked there last summer, before coming back to Madison for the fall and spring semesters. And when I return to Goddard in June, it will surely be to a new environment — one in which grief is powerful, but determination to continue the space program reigns.
My interest in astronomy and space exploration has taught me about hope, because nothing seems as hopeful as a mission into space. But in the wake of the tragedy that befell the space shuttle Columbia, that sense of hope wavered. As I saw the images of Columbia breaking up just minutes before it was due to land, I felt discouraged.
Now, I realize that my feelings of hopelessness are a dishonor to the seven astronauts who were aboard Columbia.
The Columbia tragedy was particularly close to home for me. As a student in the Cooperative Education Program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, I spend part of each year in Greenbelt, Maryland, preparing for a career in science writing. I worked there last summer, before coming back to Madison for the fall and spring semesters. And when I return to Goddard in June, it will surely be to a new environment — one in which grief is powerful, but determination to continue the space program reigns.
The NASA community is diverse. Employees are of all different ages, races, nationalities, and backgrounds. But it is rare to find a group of people so similar. Every NASA employee is characterized by the love of the unknown, the desire to discover our role in the universe, and a delight in allowing an almost childlike curiosity to dictate where those explorations lead them. To be so dedicated to such a large undertaking requires this sort of passion.
I need to keep reminding myself that it is with this same passion that astronauts Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon went into space. These astronauts are heroes not because they died, but because even though they knew their lives could be at risk, they believed enough in the exploration of space to go anyway.And they believed in the exploration of space because, in the end, it is the ultimate embodiment of human hope. Hope is the wish for something — an expectation that in the end our desires will be met.
It comes from curiosity, from knowledge, from compassion, and from beauty.
I need to keep reminding myself that it is with this same passion that astronauts Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon went into space. These astronauts are heroes not because they died, but because even though they knew their lives could be at risk, they believed enough in the exploration of space to go anyway.And they believed in the exploration of space because, in the end, it is the ultimate embodiment of human hope. Hope is the wish for something — an expectation that in the end our desires will be met.
It comes from curiosity, from knowledge, from compassion, and from beauty.
Curiosity leads astronauts into space — not just curiosity about the universe, but about life on our planet as well. The knowledge that scientists gain from space exploration allows us to hope that not only will we someday understand our place in the universe, but also that we will be able to develop new technologies and medicines to solve earthly problems.
But space exploration is not simply about testing science and developing technology. It is an environment that brings together people of diverse backgrounds with the common goal of furthering human knowledge. The compassion demonstrated by the astronauts toward one another provides hope that we can find ways to settle our differences — that we may see one another not as strangers, but as being from the same place in the universe.
As for beauty, there may be nothing as beautiful as the realms of space. Space exploration grants us permission to hope that someday we can tap into that beauty and make it a part of humankind.
But space exploration is not simply about testing science and developing technology. It is an environment that brings together people of diverse backgrounds with the common goal of furthering human knowledge. The compassion demonstrated by the astronauts toward one another provides hope that we can find ways to settle our differences — that we may see one another not as strangers, but as being from the same place in the universe.
As for beauty, there may be nothing as beautiful as the realms of space. Space exploration grants us permission to hope that someday we can tap into that beauty and make it a part of humankind.
In the days to come, there will be much debate over the future of the space program. To stop sending people into space would go against everything in which Columbia's astronauts believed and by which they lived. For my part, I'll continue to support NASA and honor the lives of Columbia's crew — by keeping my eyes on the sky and my spirit full of hope. Lindsay Renick Mayer is a junior majoring in journalism. Her position as a "co-op student" at the Goddard Space Flight Center combines work experience with academic study. She writes press releases and fact sheets about current missions, research, and other NASA projects.
The knowledge that scientists gain from space exploration allows us to hope that not only will we someday understand our place in the universe, but also that we will be able to develop new technologies and medicines to solve earthly problems.
The knowledge that scientists gain from space exploration allows us to hope that not only will we someday understand our place in the universe, but also that we will be able to develop new technologies and medicines to solve earthly problems.
