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Exploring Space Is ‘A Waste Of Gas’

From the opinion page of the Denver Post:

Today’s kids not so into space

By Susan Greene

07/19/2009

Beware the wackos who think the Apollo missions were a hoax.

This column isn’t about their conspiracy theories or interminable e-mails written in bold with billions and billions of exclamation points.

It’s about kids, wiser and more grounded than we realize, who know full well what happened on the moon 40 years ago but for whom the story is old news.

“First there were dinosaurs, and then there were the astronauts. You know, way back in the olden days,” said Cormack Cole, 9, checking out the space exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Back in the space age, before “moonwalk” brought to mind moves by a dead pop star, kids would pretend jungle gyms were rocket ships. We’d shape snow into moon craters, hopping between them like Neil Armstrong. No kid doubted that we — or at least our own children — someday would soar into space too.

Nearly every kid I spoke with at the museum’s “Space Odyssey” was far better schooled than we ever were in matters of gravity and anti- gravity. A 7-year-old explained that Jupiter “has, like, a million moons.” A 3-year-old pointed out that some twinkles in the sky “are planets, not stars” and that the first astronaut was actually a dog.

But as much as they know about space, they expressed little eagerness to explore it. Most said they barely notice when a shuttle launches, the space station orbits or the two crafts joined like they did with a record 13 astronauts Friday.

Since the Apollo program ended and two shuttles have blown apart on live TV, it seems that blasting off to infinity and beyond has lost some of its draw.

“It’s not like they’re actually going to send anybody but robots all the way to Mars anyway,” said Cormack, a soon- to-be-third-grader.

“They’re totally wasting gas,” added his buddy, Liam Fuller.

“It’s no duh that people used to be all excited about space and stuff,” said Analesa Sandoval, 9. “But we’ve got work to do right here fixing problems and stuff on Earth.”

“Like saving the whales,” said Theo McCallister, 8.

“And cancer people and people with no food,” chimed in his 5-year-old sister, Noelle. “Bumblebees, too.”

Added 8-year-old Logan Satterfield: “I want to do real things, not float around in orbit.” …

This is what forty years of our splendid education system has wrought.

And Ms. Greene thinks this proves that kids are “much wiser and more grounded than we realize.”

(Thanks to BillK for the heads up.)

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This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 12:01 am. You can leave a response.

16 Responses to “Exploring Space Is ‘A Waste Of Gas’”

BillK

July 20, 2009 at 3:43 am

I share this opinion column because it’s just so sad, and reveals a lot of what’s wrong with America today.

From the Denver Post:

Today’s kids not so into space

By Susan Greene

Beware the wackos who think the Apollo missions were a hoax.

This column isn’t about their conspiracy theories or interminable e-mails written in bold with billions and billions of exclamation points.

It’s about kids, wiser and more grounded than we realize, who know full well what happened on the moon 40 years ago but for whom the story is old news…

http://www.denverpost.com/greene/ci_12868496

This is, of course, the future of NASA when these kids get to be voting age – defunded in order to “save the whales.”

So who is to blame for this?

The media, their parents, and schoolteachers.

Who can destroy the dreams of a five year-old, telling them we’ve got problems with “cancer people and people with no food?”

Who can convince 3rd graders that trips into space are a “waste of gas?”

Or that we need to, “save the whales?”

For all but the five year-old, their teachers have been carefully grinding the notion of failure into these kids’ brains as well.

Because you can’t control people with dreams. Who have ambition.

You can’t blame the rich if people aspire to be rich.

You can’t blame bankers and CEOs if someone wants to be a banker or run a company.

You can’t make people believe only Government can accomplish things if they can accomplish them for themselves.

Thus the answer is to drill into kids from the youngest possible age that we live on a dying planet.

That money spent on research or space is wasted – astronauts just “float around” up there. No research projects. No inventions from the space program. No reason to keep funding billion dollar roman candles. No “real work” happens at NASA.

Nope, that money has to be spent here on earth, researching disease (never mind the instruments and techniques that came out of the space program.)

We need to stop doing things. Stop “wasting” gas.

Stop “growth.”

Save the whales (from man.)

Save the bees (from man.)

Only when dreams are thoroughly destroyed can Government subjugate. It’s the way it’s been done since the beginning of man.

You’re nothing. You can’t achieve.

You’re a minority? Why, the White Man will never let you succeed, only Government can help.

You’re poor? Why, only the rich succeed – unless Government helps you.

The left has run a careful campaign, long knowing that the secret to ultimate power lies in disenchanting youth.

They’ve succeeded.

It’s becoming clearer and clearer that if there is any hope for man actually making progress, it lies in another country.

The United States has destroyed their youth, and currently has a populace willing to give away their true freedom in exchange for free, Government-paid abortions on demand.

The Soviets must be so proud.

Rather than racing to follow in Armstrong’s footsteps, their feet are firm on the ground. They dream closer to home of standing strong and steadily here on our own planet.

And the left will be right there, reassuring them that lack of dreams and vision and willingly subjugating themselves to the desires of the Government is the Right Thing to do.

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- Petronius
  
  July 21, 2009 at 10:37 am
  
  “It’s becoming clearer and clearer that if there is any hope for man actually making progress, it lies in another country.”
  
  Yes . . . or on another planet.
- jobeth
  
  July 21, 2009 at 11:42 am
  
  Bill, what an on target and sad, sad, comment.
- catie
  
  July 21, 2009 at 12:10 pm
  
  Right on. You know I was trying to convince my little 5 y/o son, his friend and his friend’s mother who is even older than I am and remembers the Moon Walk, about how exciting of a time it was even though I was only a little kid at the time, his age in fact. He seemed interested until Roxanne said something about no one really caring about that anymore, typical lib-we have “more” important things to worry about. I said, we had better darn care.
  We live in a sorry country now. This Greene chick thinks that kids are just oh so smart today. Wow, they’re stupider than kids even 15 years ago.
Liberals Demise

July 21, 2009 at 10:18 am

This is a prime reason why you never leave your kids at Neverland over the weekend!!

Is it any wonder why the kids say what they say? SOS Hitlery has apologized to India for Global Warming. (it isn’t the kids fault)

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Reality Bytes

July 21, 2009 at 10:39 am

Acorn Day Care Coming to a Town Near You!

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proreason

July 21, 2009 at 11:21 am

“And cancer people and people with no food,” chimed in his 5-year-old sister, Noelle. “Bumblebees, too.”

Isn’t it amazing what can come out of the mouths of babes.

Why, they can repeat the darndest things.

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- Liberals Demise
  
  July 21, 2009 at 11:37 am
  
  BINGO!!!
MinnesotaRush

July 21, 2009 at 11:40 am

My guess is that when a persons world is no bigger than their backyard barbeque or game boy .. when their universe is no larger than themselves with the outer regions being the Walmart and Taco Bell locations .. when they think that all they can contribute to mankind is their vote on American Idol .. well then I’d guess that traveling to space and floating around out there probably does seem to be just a big waste of gas.

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Albertafriend

July 21, 2009 at 11:47 am

Last night I was watching part of the movie “For All Mankind” that was on TCM with my 7 and almost 4 year old grandsons. They were were absolutely fascinated with seeing the astronauts going up the elevator, getting in the capsule at the top and then watching that rocket ignite and take off to the moon. They were excited and the older one, who knows a lot of stuff, was amazed to think it was actually going to the moon and that men were going to get out of it and walk around on it. It was like it was happening for the first time for him and he wanted to know why we don’t have rockets going to the moon all the time and are we going to do it again or are we going to go to Mars. I explained a bit to him but because he was so thrilled by the idea and how exciting it must be to ride in a real rocket ship I made sure I told him how brave they were and how maybe some day he could be an astronaut too. If you give them the right information and the moment is right it’s not so hard to ignite a dream.

By the way, I noticed 0 was lying again to the astronauts about waving little flags and seeing their homecoming celebration in person when he was 7 (almost 8) and living in Indonesia. (I made a big comment about that last August or September about how that was impossible.) At least he “remembers” his grandpa telling him that Americans could do anything if they put their minds to it.

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- dulcimergrl
  
  July 22, 2009 at 2:13 pm
  
  Last year we took a trip to Florida in honor of my older son’s college graduation (fyi, he is now gainfully employed and lives on his own!). One of the areas we visited was Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Both my sons (and their parents) came away from the visit with a renewed respect for the space program and the amount of sheer brainpower that went into it. I still feel sheer amazement when I think about it.
  
  Since that time, we have rented the HBO series “From the Earth to the Moon”, rewatched “Apollo 13″, and rented an especially good movie about the effects of the Sputnik launch on a West Virginia town, “October Sky”. I recommend them all as an antidote to this dopey article.
Rusty Shackleford

July 21, 2009 at 11:54 am

“They’re totally wasting gas,” added his buddy, Liam Fuller.

Now, here we have something actually interesting.

The BIG rockets go up with Hydrogen and Oxygen. No real petrochemicals used there in any great quantities and maneuvering thrusters use hydrazine. Also, no “typical” oil-based chemicals there, although it is a very hazardous material.

Shame that kids lack the enthusiasm for space exploration that once abounded and that teachers are so indoctrinated with hatred that they must pass that on.

I wonder how my friend who is a (no kiddin) rocket scientist for JPL feels about that. I’ll bet he has a word or two.

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neocon mom

July 21, 2009 at 12:25 pm

Something we parents must combat is the total brainwashing of our children with this Gaia worship b.s. We need to recognize the fact that this is Pagan stuff sometimes disguised, sometimes blatantly being taught to our children as science and virtue.

Disney, Nickelodeon and of course PBS kids do their part too, and our children are convinced that the situation is really dire and they are becoming little soldiers of eco-sanctimony.

I think since one good turn deserves another (I’m speaking of the ACLU’s war on uttering the name of God in any loose reference to Judeo/Christian traditions), we should legally challenge the indoctrination of public school children into celebrating earth day and learning about how to “love mother earth”. There is nothing scientific about celebrating earth day; it is, at its mildest, political ideology and at its worst, an endorsement and promotion of Pagan religious values.

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- Rusty Shackleford
  
  July 21, 2009 at 12:29 pm
  
  “There is nothing scientific about celebrating earth day; it is, at its mildest, political ideology and at its worst, an endorsement and promotion of Pagan religious values.”
  
  Exactly!
Right of the People

July 21, 2009 at 4:29 pm

I’m not that old, early 50’s, but I feel the downfall of imagination and the dumbing down of America began with TV. Back when there was only radio, you had to use your imagination to picture in your mind what the story on the radio was portraying just like you do with a book. I don’t think it is any coincidence that kids don’t read now like they used to and their attention spans can be measured in milliseconds. I still listen to radio extensively and with the advent of XM now can enjoy the old radio show they rebroadcast. TV has its place but it has become the electronic babysitter for an entire generation. When our daughter was growing up we limited her exposure to the boob tube and to this day she watches little TV and reads for relaxation.

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- Rusty Shackleford
  
  July 21, 2009 at 4:43 pm
  
  ROTP, I agree. But I’ll go you one better. I’ve been saying for months now how the liberals seem to have mastered the art of the sound bite. I firmly believe they have studied the cumulative effect of advertising and on into the overall effect of the half-hour sitcom where if you say something enough times, it somehow migrates from one part of the brain into the reality portion where non-critical thinkers are helpless to stop it.
  
  By packaging something a certain way, they have learned from television how best to get a large number of people to say “OOOOOMMMMMMM” and parrot the party line. Thus, they can do anything they want by calling it something else and expect the masses will buy it. And…they are starting to, but thanks to this blog, American Thinker, Ann Coulter, Rush and many, many others, the voice of pragmatism and ever-present force of reality is even now creeping into some of the liberals’ field of vision. Especially recently with healthcare…because…even the liberals I work with who have heard about what’s actually in the bill are none-too-pleased…after months of worshiping at their little Shinto shrines in their cubicles to the magic negro.
  
  IN other words, as long as a liberal doesn’t NOTICE that negative change too much…and they think it affects OTHER people…they’re all for it. But the second it hits them in the breadbasket…they are suddenly 180 out and are outraged. Granted, it doesn’t really take much to “outrage” a liberal.
  
  But good observation and I agree.