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I wanted to be an astronaut (and marine biologist) when I was little. For a few Halloweens my mom and dad made me the latest and most high tech spacesuit.
Forget the Mylar, Dacron, nylon, Teflon and stretchy spandex, and water tubes of today.
Mine was the real deal. 100 percent NASA Approved Reynolds Wrap. Yes, I was the slickest astronaut on the block and if necessary, ready to play the Tin Man.
COORDINATES: 19.4° N, 30.8° E
And while they were wrapping me up, I could only think of how school and my science teacher Mrs. Sager would put me straight on the path to Cape Canaveral and then to Montes Caucasus 37.52°N 9.93°E.
But it wasn’t just that. I remember building a science project in 5th grade using my Mattel’s Major Matt Mason collection of bendy dolls, space gear, various moon mobiles, lunar crawler, space sleds and the coolest multilevel space station ever.
School definitely paid homage to the space program, as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins became our new heroes blasting off into space. They were real Buzz Lightyears. Growing up, the classroom became our Mission Control. But that was then.
COORDINATES: 20.3° N, 35.3° W
Now, we watch and listen to those we love to hate in total amazement as Musk’s Space X and Bezos’ Blue Origin launch their space brands. And yes, with the cheers, we hear the unrelenting jeers.
Every NP and NPO as well as every other socially conscious group start the – “what a waste of money and imagine what can be done with money” chant.
But the loudest group of all is the one we need to hear the clearest– our teachers. Even more than money, more than the respect – what they want education to become is a national priority.
President Joe Biden’s federal budget proposal for 2022 gives NASA more science funding than ever before while continuing to pave the way for the next human moon landing in 2024. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson even said, “The Biden administration is proving that science is back.”
Space is has been on everyone’s minds. There’s no doubt about it, space is cool.
The U.S. may be a prominent figure in space exploration, but is sending robots into galaxies the best use of our tax dollars, especially when the future space operators are stuck in an education solar storm of unlimited issues, controversy and divisiveness?
The U.S. is the world’s richest country. Yes, we are number one as space leaders but do not even make it to the launch pad as educators.
COORDINATES: 40.6° N, 1.1° W
According to the Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) rankings, the US ranked 25th overall, coming in 37th in mathematics, 18th in science, and just missing the top 10 in reading at 13th place. Spending about 4.9 percent of its GDP on education puts the US on par with Ireland and Poland – and above China, Singapore and Japan, who all made the list.
With reality being grounded in daily life threatening issues on earth, how is it NASA recently held a press conference to announce a study it was commissioning on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). The acronym is a rebranding of what are more popularly known as unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, a topic usually associated with purported extraterrestrial visitations and government conspiracy theories.
About 5.9 percent of the federal budget is spent on Medicare and healthcare, 5.7 percent is spent on housing and community and 6.3 percent on education.
Spending for these programs is in the single digits so it’s safe to say, it’s just being jettisoned into a G-type main-sequence star (G2V).
COORDINATES: 36.6° N, 40.5° W
To be clear, government funding for research is very important and NASA should not be abandoned but prioritized – as in, it will never be. So given Bill Nelson’s excitement, perhaps he can share how we get education back.
BTW, my favorite television show was Fireball XL-5 a 1960s British children’s science-fiction puppet television series about the missions of Fireball XL5, a vessel of the World Space Patrol.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Consulting. He can be reached by email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
