A Citizens Line

Exploring Outer Space: "Looking for Life"

Always I have been a sci-fi buff; and I am surely a NASA supporter. I even signed up my young son and myself with Pan-Am in the mid-1960s for a space flight when they became commercially available.

Space travel - news and fiction - captured my imagination and a lot of my time as a teen and on into college. In the 50s, as a 14 years old, I drew three "space comic books", each with forty pages of story copy and self-drawn pictures. I used a small jello box to make my comic page squares for the pictures - six to a page. Occasionally, I would draw a scene or a sketch of a person in those box squares that really looked good, impressing my family and friends, who would say encouraging things, like, "That looks real", or "Where did you learn to draw like that?". I ate it up.

My space hero in my book, I named Rocket Carmen, Space Cadet. He was inspired by Tom Corbett, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rodgers. The sound of Cadet Carmen's ray gun  was 'ZAAACK', and it could knock over a moon rover if set on HIGH. He captured space crooks in the interplanetary pursuit of the "Silver Robbers of Saturn"; and he fought in the space wars in my famous story, "Mercurian Wars". Even before NASA revealed their plans for a 'moon touchdown', I landed my guys on the surface of planets with a 'lander' from the mother ship. (We had not invented "molecule transporters" at that time. That came with Star Trek).

When my parents bought my first chemistry set for my Christmas of 1949, I instantly became a scientist...and have been ever since. Making reactions occur with that set and reading books like "World Out of Mind" and "The Puppet Masters" mixed the reality of science and the fantasy of science fiction in my preteen mind.

I watched Neil Armstrong make that "giant leap for mankind" on the moon, and blended that with Captain Kirk of the Star Ship Enterprise as he space-tripped lightly across galaxies at multiple warp speeds. My visions for space soared as they did in the real and unreal expectations of space exploration by NASA in millions of  American kids.

And....I still support NASA and space exploration. I like the "spin offs" that have come from NASA research and discoveries, which benefit man regarding health; science; medicine; every day living; the American, as well as, world economy; and American prestige for the accomplishments.

I think it is vital that we in America be first in space and on the planets to establish ourselves and "lay claim" to the "silver of Saturn" (?), and prevent any aggressive, military attacks by our enemies from space stations, as in a "war from Mercury" (?).

It seems that Americans are seen by the world as the leader in the technology of space, and the educational knowledge gained from these adventures. It therefore seems essential that we are the ones to strengthen our defenses and our security and our military prowess from the vantage points of space...but....

I don't want my $55 per year (the annual contribution of each American citizen to NASA) going into "looking for life" on Mars or Venus. That "objective" of our brilliant men and women of NASA may only be a ploy used to excite us into support; but for my tax dollars I prefer the fruits of exploration for practical purposes, economicallly and militarily.

We must separate the real productive goals of space from those which are fictional fantasy. The first ones, the Neil Armstrong kinds, give a quick R.O.I.; while the second, Rocket Carmen kinds, puts money down a "black hole". ManWalking50. 

MINI-APOLOGY: Since Christmas fell on Sunday this year, this blog entry was a day late. I try to normally post these entries on Sundays as a deadline, but my wife and I returned at 1:00 am Sunday, Christmas Day, and I just could not peck on these keys at that time. We had just returned from a 3,500 mile drive to San Diego from Dallas and return in 8 days. I worked each day, and we visited friends along the way, and bought grand kids things in that great southwest desert. Terrific trip...now back down to business. Have a great New Year and a prosperous 2006, everyone!

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