From Russia, With Thrusters

Space, is too daunting for one Country to conquer alone. So? Americans and Russians--"worst enemies" on the ground-- team-up, to get the job done in orbit. -- So, as that great [American] prophet, Rodney King, [and I think he's truly great] remarked in the 1990's, "Why can't we just all get along?" On the ground, that is— …Down here where most of us live… *** You know? Americans and Russians have a whole lot in common. — We're both used to tackling, "really big things." Two huge land expanses, stretching west and east, to begin with; and now in the 20th and 21st centuries, the never-ending depths of the heavens. And let's not forget how the two great powers managed, "to keep the World safe, for democracy and communism,” respectively, during the bloodiest war of all time. -- You'd think this would be enough to unite us, wouldn't you? But no, we must continue to bicker and taunt, out-spend and out maneuver, until we both collapse from mutual exhaustion-- …What a stupid approach to living…! -- How much better it would be, if we could just agree with Rodney's, and with each other? ...It's worth trying, you know... -- “Spaciba,” to you my friends, wherever you’re doing, and whatever you may think— …From an American, with love…

Sputnik sent this old hillbilly to college. As America panicked, as it historically always does, lurching from one crisis to another, it threw huge sums of money at education, especially higher education. I received a full scholarsip for 4 years, at a state school—$100 per semester. That, plus a small 3% loan, half forgiven after I spent 5 years in education, helped solve my financial situation (along with 3 part-time jobs, held consecutively) and, in the larger picture, helped solve the country’s “space race” crisis. Thanks be to sputnik, but especially the U S government. Perhaps we need to panic—still again.

The mere mention of the word, "Sputnik" brings me back to my childhood and my hometown, Manitowoc, Wisconsin. On September 6, 1962, a 20-pound smoldering hunk of the Soviet Union’s five-ton Sputnik IV satellite crashed in the middle of North 8th Street in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The metal debris was sent off to the Smithsonian-Harvard Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which confirmed it was a piece of the satellite and sent a field agent out to collect smaller bits that landed around the area. Since that time, a brass ring was embedded into the street to indicate and commemorate the event. Even though the brass ring is a little dingy and worn from decades of snow, rain and wear and tear from cars constantly running over it, that brass ring is still there, as is the connection I feel with Russia because of it.

I remember Sputnik. A day after it was announced, newspapers published the times of its passing and many flocked to open areas to look for it. When joined by other satellites, the listings increased, but then faded away as did interest in seeing them. The shock to America can hardly be overstated. There was great soul searching on the part of the educational establishment on why we had failed. The conclusion was often that the American system was too soft and did not included more rigorous math and science courses. Of course, the greatest fear was that the Russians might reach the moon first and possibly claim it for themselves. There is now talk again of returning to the moon with manned flights, but given the advance of robotic technology, this seems a morally questionable endangerment of life.