Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/pc/text/station/ssf_esy.txt

Text File | 1993-06-14 | 6KB | 109 lines

     SPACE STATION REVISITED: THE TRIAL OF THE AMERICAN MIND

                         "We shall not cease from exploration
                         And the end of all our exploring
                         Will be to arrive where we started
                         And know the place for the first time"
                                   T.S. Eliot

     "Mom, are you really going to build the space station?"-
struggling through her tears asked my seven-year-old Michelle as
we parted at the airport. "I'll try," I said. And so "trying" I
was--being "drafted" to Washington D.C. to work as an interpreter
for the NASA Space Station Redesign Team during the visit of the
Russian delegation--living through what seems now the most
intensive and exciting three weeks of my life.
     In March of this year under Presidential orders, NASA  began
a ninety-day odyssey in redesigning the Station with a goal of
drastically trimming its cost while trying to retain its
essential capabilities. The redesign effort takes place in one of
the most closely-watched arenas in Washington--the federal
budget. There is also another stage for this drama--our mind.
With less than two weeks to go in the Station review, we have yet
to convince ourselves in the vital necessity of this project.
     A lay-person, like myself, who lives daily through the CNN-
presented Byzantine world of domestic politics or the sound and
fury of newspapers, can easily become frustrated  at the very
thought of space-related issues.  When last month in Washington I
joined the Redesign Team, I saw little sense in  continuing to
beat our heads against the wall.  The wall, I thought, was set up
a while ago by "them." "They" were those who understood the name
Freedom not as a symbol of man's escape from Earth's gravity, but
only as freedom to change certain budget constrains.
     Sooner or later, I was sure, everybody would realize that
the government's best technology investment is no investment at
all--it is just the purchase of desired results. After decades of
greatness, here comes the time when we all are too focused on
making the next buck instead of investing in the future.
     However, the atmosphere I encountered in Washington was
different. The Redesign Team people do not philosophize. Headed
by former astronaut Bryan O'Connor, they simply work around the
clock in a situation where deadlines are marked by hours or
minutes, not by weeks or days. Pulled from their families and
regular jobs, they take no breaks, know no holidays. One cannot
exist at the edge of human endurance and produce the quality of
the work they do. The obsession by an idea is prerequisite.
Driven by the idea to salvage the Station, they know their work
will outlast those who have been opposed to it for so long. For
me, these thirty-five people personify NASA's drive to renew
itself into a leading force for creativity, innovation, and
progress, not only in space, but in American society as well.
Answering the challenge to redesign the Station in ninety days,
the Team actually has undertaken a murderous job to change a big
institution. And this, on a larger scale, reflects our current
struggle to grasp who we are in this country today and what we
are going to be tomorrow: are we really showing signs of being
intellectually bankrupt and unable to find solutions to our
problems?
     When the Russians arrived, they brought an entirely new
dimension to the redesign effort. Invited by our officials, this
delegation came to propose ways that Russia could contribute to
the program. They were the old-timers, people who created the
space technology. Notwithstanding the still uncertain final
outcome of this visit, their arrival signaled the new era of
cooperation and signified the end of Cold War rivalry. It was an
irony of our history: the very same people were asked to help to
save the program that was begat by the conflict with them. Now in
a situation inconceivable just a few years ago, the specialists
from the opposite sides of the space race could talk, understand,
and appreciate each other. Our technical briefings became an
incredible emotional experience for everybody involved. "These
people do not need me," I often thought. "They understand each
other from half-a-syllable." I could visualize the Berlin wall,
which had long become a mental, not just a physical entity,
tumbling down in front of our own eyes.
     For the Russians, an opportunity to cooperate in building
the Station does not mean just another chance to push their
hardware, as it is often depicted by our media. "Please help your
people understand," they asked me, "if the world won't use our
technology now, it may well disappear along with the fossils of
communism, be ruined by the forces of anarchy and destruction."
     For the Americans, cooperation with their Russian
counterparts means realization of a dream: an international
station in space. "When I walk through the National Aerospace
Museum, I experience mixed emotions," mused Joe Nieberding (who
along with John Dunning, represents the Lewis Center in the
Redesign Team). "On one hand, I am enormously proud of both the
Russian and the American achievements in space. On another, I
cannot help but think what we could have done together if we had
been allowed to join our efforts."
     It is now time for us to show whether we are ready to work
together without being fueled by the space race or we will let
our efforts being strangled by the bureaucracy; whether we are
going to turn our country into a world leader in space or into a
place of world-class ignorance and pettiness.
     The road into space may run through the Russian town Kaluga,
where Tsiolkovsky developed his ideas on aeronautics. It may also
run through Worcester, MA, where Goddard worked on his theory of
rockets. It definitely runs through our children's minds. Space
provides them with inspiration and hope and gets them excited
about learning. Like an enchanted mirror from fairy tales, space
has no favorites. It may show our greatness or it may reflect our
confusion and lack of vision. The future of our children is in
our hands.
     The last target date for having the Station permanently
manned by astronauts has been June 2000. "I'll be so old then,"
says Michelle (who was born in 1985). "A real teenager. But I'll
wait."