PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS CURRENT STUDENTS ALUMNI FACULTY STAFF

San Antonio Express-News
Wednesday, July 9, 2003
By Dr. Robert Bishop

The Mars Exploration Rovers, appropriately dubbed "Spirit" and "Opportunity," recently left the mothership Earth and headed to the Red Planet. I hope these curious robots, designed by engineers to serve as robotic geologists, will reinvigorate the U.S. space program and, simultaneously, our youth.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone else cares.

We developed technology to establish lunar bases, yet as a nation we abandoned the moon. We developed technology to collect and return Mars rocks to the Earth, yet we pushed that project so far into the future that even young people see Mars exploration as impossible during their lifetimes. The space station fails to inspire: many of my students view it as an instrument of foreign diplomacy, not an exploration tool.

What happened to the excitement of space exploration? National priorities shifted away from our young people, away from their future.

We tell students they need to excel in mathematics and science, and they often ask "Why?" Can we provide an answer that extends beyond the need to pass some standardized test? It is our responsibility to build an educational program that addresses the organic needs of our youth: the need to explore, the need to push the envelope, a true reason to excel in mathematics and science.

I believe the study of flight can address these needs.
First, flight has a strong appeal to youth. Flights of fancy are integral to young minds that dream of reaching the stars, of exploring.

Second, flight, both in the atmosphere and in space, allows the classroom's mathematical formulas, scientific theory and engineering practice to take form. It gives them meaning.

Third, if the process of educating students links our modern world to the ancient world, flight offers a tangible symbol of the advancement of civilization: the difference between our ancestors and us is that we have realized the dream of flight.

Yet, the relationship between space exploration and the education of America has never been fully investigated. This should become our national ambition — to inexorably link the space exploration program with our educational system.

We have documented the cost-effectiveness of space exploration, witnessing a 9-to-1 return on every dollar invested in the moon landings. There have been over 30,000 spin-offs from the space program, including kidney dialysis machines and smoke detectors. Hospitals daily save lives using diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging equipment evolved from technology to computer-enhance moon pictures for the Apollo program.

Calculating the positive impact of space exploration on young minds is more difficult. Intuition tells us that exploration undersea, on land or in space remains necessary to the intellectual excellence of our nation. The space exploration malaise, while not on the minds of many Americans, is crippling our future and negatively impacting our youth. Let's face it, our youth are bored, and the moon is waiting.

As a young child, I watched in wonder and awe as the Apollo astronauts walked on the moon. The excitement of the space program offered a positive alternative to the harsh realities of Vietnam, the drug culture and the political shenanigans of the time. It gave a reason to prepare for the future. Today we have different harsh realities, but what can we offer to balance the constant horror of our daily news? I suggest that we grasp our innate human desire to explore and allow our optimistic dreams to again take center stage.

We must fly more robotic explorers and expand our human migration in space. It's time to care about space exploration again.

Our youth deserve it. Their spirit demands it.
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Dr. Robert H. Bishop is a distinguished teaching professor at the University of Texas at Austin and chair-designate of the university's department of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics.

 

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