For as long as I can remember, I have been enamored of space exploration. My first memories of the U.S. space program were of me sitting in the living room with my family, watching the Apollo Saturn V vehicle steaming on the launch pad, while Uncle Walter's voice intoned a description of man's future in space. In those days (I was all of six years old), I would take three of my Mom's dining room chairs and lay them on their backs. This was my "Apollo capsule." My dream from that day on was to become an astronaut. I wanted it so bad I could taste it. I never even considered a "plan b."

I grew up with the Apollo program. My goal was to grow up to be an astronaut.

Fast forward to high school. Twelve years later, we hadn't had an American in space in 5 years, except for the inaugural flight of the space shuttle. I was really excited about that, but soon realized that it was a vehicle in search of a mission. It only went to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), after all. This wasn't exploration, it was a taxi service! The Challenger accident only served to underline that it was even more dangerous than we were supposed to believe. Still, I would have given anything to "ride the fire" into space - even LEO!

In the meantime, I joined the Air Force and got married. With the pressures and concerns of raising and supporting a family, I all but forgot my dreams of spaceflight. Then came Ron Howard's . As I walked out of the theater, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I literally bawled my eyes out for ten minutes. This movie, with its superb storytelling and awesome effects, had brought back to the surface what had been suppressed in my subconscious for almost ten years. It forced me to remember the yearning to go into space with which I had grown up.

I went into overdrive, devouring everything I could get my hands on about the early space program. I journeyed to Johnson Space Center six times that year. The following year I bought a season pass for my family to Space Center Houston! I've been to Kennedy Space Center (which has been Disneyfied beyond belief) four times, Marshall Space Flight Center twice, Jet Propulsion Labs once, and seen two shuttle launches (STS-94 and STS-95). They may only be playing taxi, but it's still a spectacular sight.

With time, though, I realized that If we are going to ever go into space for real, it won't be NASA that does it. It will be civilian companies that do it to make money. There is ample precedent for this. When explorers left the old world, they were financed by companies who were looking for gold, exotic goods, etc. I believe this is how we will eventually expand into space on a large scale.

In 1998, I read a book by some guy named Robert Zubrin. The title was The Case for Mars. In it, Mr. Zubrin explained logically and thoroughly how we could get people to Mars within a decade, using present-day technology. Not only that but it could be done for only about forty billion dollars! Now, that's a lot of money, but all NASA's studies up to that point had estimated over a quarter of a trillion dollars! Upon reading this book I got real excited. Mr. Zubrin had made a believer out of me. At the same time, he and a group of scientists and space advocates known as the "Mars Underground" were forming an organization called the Mars Society.

I don't think any group will make a difference until individuals get motivated to do so.

Robert Zubrin is a great motivator on paper. Unfortunately, based on public statements and documents, he sems to be a control freak. That, combined with the cult of personality that the Mars Society has become, limits (or negates) any effectiveness in advocating for manned space exploration. Also, it is my experience that even most people who are interested in such things want to sit back and be spoon-fed, rather than get out and do something about it. Apathy abounds, not only in the general populace, but in those of use who should be most motivated to make a difference. Try the National Space Society or the Planetary Society. They at least seem to be able to move in the right direction.

"Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever."
- Konstantin E. Tsiolkovski

That brings us to today. I'm not bitter, though it may sound that way; just a little more aware of human nature. But I cannot forget the above quote from Tsiolkovski. We have been in space for over forty years now, and the vast majority of our own planetary system is still unexplored. Let's get out there and do something about it! Below (courtesy of SEDS) is a composite showing the sun and the nine planets with approximately correct relative sizes. Click on a planet for a separate window to appear with information on that planet.

Below are some links to explore if you want to help make us a space-faring civilization.