{"id":1642,"date":"2009-12-13T08:40:38","date_gmt":"2009-12-13T08:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-what%e2%80%99s-not-to-hope-for\/"},"modified":"2009-12-13T08:40:38","modified_gmt":"2009-12-13T08:40:38","slug":"space-what%e2%80%99s-not-to-hope-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/nasa\/space-what%e2%80%99s-not-to-hope-for.php","title":{"rendered":"Space: What\u2019s NOT to Hope for?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the NASA tweet-up <\/a>down at the Kennedy Space Center for the STS-129<\/a> launch a reporter asked me a question that really threw me. Here, a week later, I’m still thinking about it. He asked:<\/p>

“Do you think bringing tweeters here gives NASA hope for the future.”<\/em><\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

\"NASA<\/a>
NASA Tweeps Photo Credit: NASA\/Carla Cioffi<\/p>

Hope for the future? Really?<\/strong><\/p>

Why wouldn’t<\/em> we have hope for the future? With or without Twitter in the mix?<\/p>

What’s not <\/em>to hope for?<\/strong><\/p>

Now, I get all the doom and gloom reporting about job losses with the end of the Space Shuttle program, and threats of budget cuts. Yes, the job losses are real. Yes, they are heartbreaking AND very frightening for those whose jobs are at stake. Yes, we’ll probably take some budget hits from the White House and Congress. We are, after all, in a squeezed economy…though we see signs of recovery. But none of this is new. We’ve faced all this before.<\/p>

But, hope for the future? I simply can’t conceive the reverse<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>

We have a universe of questions out there to find answers to. We, as humans, are curious creatures. We’ll find ways to get the answers. It may or may not look like someone’s pet project. It may or may not fit on today’s calendar. Or even tomorrow’s.<\/em><\/p>

But we, as a human race, WILL GO FORWARD. We will seek answers beyond our planetary borders.<\/strong><\/p>

NASA wi<\/em>ll <\/em>play a role. What that role will be is determined by the President and Congress. That’s the way this works. But we’ll be a player, none-the-less. We’ll shape the debate. We’ll craft the solutions.<\/p>

Again, what’s not<\/em> to hope for?<\/strong><\/p>

Maybe what we need more than hope <\/em>is to work harder to ignite that spark of passion <\/strong>in<\/span> <\/span><\/span>young and old alike<\/em> to: <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>