The Tim Has Landed

A final day at Space Camp.  :-(

I attended two panels this morning as my final experiences at Spacefest III.  The first was on "The Next 50 Years" and the other on "Mars."  It was really fascinating to sit and listen to these people just talk about what they thought the future held for space exploration.  They brought up lots of good questions, lots of good points, and really made you think about why we do what we do (we being the government) in terms of space travel and scientific studies.  I have gained new insights and have start thought processes in my head that I never knew I'd have. 

Audience members brought up great questions as well.  Smart questions!  One of the things I liked about the conference was that I didn't need a degree in astrophysics or engineering to understand what the conversations were (although I'm sure it would have helped with some).  Audience members were from all levels of intelligence, from passing enthusiast to journalist to professor.  Nothing ever felt dumbed down over totally over my head.

The biggest thing that I'm probably taking away from the whole experience is that we don't want to just plant another flag down in the soil and say "Done."  Don't "conquer" a planet for conquering's sake just to say you beat another country to it.  Have a goal and a plan in mind as to why you want to explore, what you want to learn from it, and not make it a pissing contest with another country.  Don't bring politics to outer space.  I know that's a tall order, but to me, it's a hopeful one.

Well, that's it.  I can't believe what an absolutely fantastic time I had.  The people I met, the things I learned, the amazing sites that I saw will stay with me forever.  There's always room for learning, enjoyment, and wonder.