Parámos de sonhar

Neil deGrasse Tyson:

O papel da guerra no desenvolvimento da exploração espacial:

“In the 1960’s, we were at war with the Soviet Union, Cold War (…) So, we feared them because they put up Sputnik (…) So NASA got founded on the fear factor of Sputnik. (…) So, we then go to the Moon on the fear factor that Russia will control high ground. Then we go to the Moon. Space enthusiasts say ‘Oh — we’re on the Moon by ‘69; we’ll be on Mars in another ten years!’ They completely did not understand why we got to the Moon in the first place: we were at war! Once we saw that Russia was not ready to land on the Moon, (we) stopped going to the Moon. Meanwhile, however, that entire era galvanized the nation… It galvanized us all to dream about tomorrow. (…) all this was focused on enabling people to make tomorrow come. That was a cultural mindset that the space program brought upon us, and we reap the benefits of economic growth because you had people wanting to become scientists and engineers — who are the people who enable tomorrow to exist today… So today, I’d rather not war be the driver, but it could happen! If China wants to put a military base on the Moon, we’ll be there in two years!”

Esta parte, vem do Daily Show:

Tudo isto está retratado em mais detalhe no novo livro do Tyson: Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier.