Guess what? It is on line and I commend it to you to read.
Most inspiring.
- LRK -
-------------------------------------
WHY MAN EXPLORES - EP125
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
Contents
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
Forward
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
- PANEL -
NORMAN COUSINS
Moderator
PHILIP MORRISON
JAMES MICHENER
JACQUES COUSTEAU
RAY BRADBURY
[3] FOREWORD
This NASA Educational Publication (EP 125) was prepared from a transcript of a panel discussion held on July 2, 1976, in conjunction with the Viking missions to Mars.
The members of the "Why Man Explores" panel were selected as authorities in classical disciplines relating to exploration. The panel discussions were not rehearsed, and the transcript was prepared from audiotapes made during the session. This report is formulated in the direct conversational style in order to retain the impromptu atmosphere and to best convey the thoughts developed during the discussion.
Donald P. Hearth
Director, NASA Langley Research Center
[4] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Donald P. Hearth
Good evening. NASA's Langley Research Center is pleased to sponsor this symposium. The United States has embarked on a truly historic step in man's exploration of our solar system with two Viking spacecraft. We feel that it is appropriate, at this point in time, to examine the basic reasons why man explores and why he has the urge to explore. When this event was scheduled, we recognized that it might not be possible to land the first Viking on Mars on July 4th because of technical problems or Martian surprises. After Viking I went into orbit on the 19th of June, the technical problems lessened and we began to learn some marvelous things about Mars. Last Saturday night, the Viking
Project Manager made a prudent decision to explore the planet from orbit somewhat longer, and to look for a harbor, somewhat safer than the original site. Yesterday, he found a safer harbor and the landing will be in the so-called "Northwest Territory." That name was selected in a very scientific way, by the way, because it is northwest of the [5] planned landing site. Current plans are to land on the 17th of July at 3:00 in the morning, Pacific time.
That's what exploration is really all about. When one explores the unknown, one should look for surprises and be prepared to alter one's course. But, why does man explore at all? It is not just the exploration of the solar system that is the topic of this symposium but of our own Earth and indeed of the entire universe. We are here this evening to discuss this question.
I will now introduce the panel. Starting on your left is an author, philosopher, poet, Mr. Ray Bradbury. Next is an explorer, oceanographer, environmentalist, Captain Jacques Cousteau. Second from the right is an explorer, author, philosopher, Mr. James Michener. And, next to Mr. Michener is a physicist, a cosmologist, and indeed a humanist, Dr. Philip Morrison. Finally, the moderator for this evening, the editor of Saturday Review, Mr. Norman Cousins.
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
Contents
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
Forward
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
- PANEL -
NORMAN COUSINS
Moderator
PHILIP MORRISON
JAMES MICHENER
JACQUES COUSTEAU
RAY BRADBURY
[3] FOREWORD
This NASA Educational Publication (EP 125) was prepared from a transcript of a panel discussion held on July 2, 1976, in conjunction with the Viking missions to Mars.
The members of the "Why Man Explores" panel were selected as authorities in classical disciplines relating to exploration. The panel discussions were not rehearsed, and the transcript was prepared from audiotapes made during the session. This report is formulated in the direct conversational style in order to retain the impromptu atmosphere and to best convey the thoughts developed during the discussion.
Donald P. Hearth
Director, NASA Langley Research Center
[4] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Donald P. Hearth
Good evening. NASA's Langley Research Center is pleased to sponsor this symposium. The United States has embarked on a truly historic step in man's exploration of our solar system with two Viking spacecraft. We feel that it is appropriate, at this point in time, to examine the basic reasons why man explores and why he has the urge to explore. When this event was scheduled, we recognized that it might not be possible to land the first Viking on Mars on July 4th because of technical problems or Martian surprises. After Viking I went into orbit on the 19th of June, the technical problems lessened and we began to learn some marvelous things about Mars. Last Saturday night, the Viking
Project Manager made a prudent decision to explore the planet from orbit somewhat longer, and to look for a harbor, somewhat safer than the original site. Yesterday, he found a safer harbor and the landing will be in the so-called "Northwest Territory." That name was selected in a very scientific way, by the way, because it is northwest of the [5] planned landing site. Current plans are to land on the 17th of July at 3:00 in the morning, Pacific time.
That's what exploration is really all about. When one explores the unknown, one should look for surprises and be prepared to alter one's course. But, why does man explore at all? It is not just the exploration of the solar system that is the topic of this symposium but of our own Earth and indeed of the entire universe. We are here this evening to discuss this question.
I will now introduce the panel. Starting on your left is an author, philosopher, poet, Mr. Ray Bradbury. Next is an explorer, oceanographer, environmentalist, Captain Jacques Cousteau. Second from the right is an explorer, author, philosopher, Mr. James Michener. And, next to Mr. Michener is a physicist, a cosmologist, and indeed a humanist, Dr. Philip Morrison. Finally, the moderator for this evening, the editor of Saturday Review, Mr. Norman Cousins.
snip
------------------------------
I don't want to take up a lot of space here, so just a paragraph or two from JACQUES COUSTEAU on pages 51-53. He had been describing an unexpected under water find they found on the south coast of Dhia, a small island lying 8 miles north of Crete.
I trust you will read more on line.
- LRK -
------------------------------
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
snip
When man explores for resources, his [51] motivations are clear. They are what we call, superficially, logic. But why would we spend one full year of our lives and over $2 million just to raise a tiny corner of the veil concealing a few episodes of our past? What is the origin of the devouring curiosity that drives men to commit their lives, their health, their reputation, their fortunes, to conquer a bit of knowledge, to stretch our physical, emotional, or intellectual territory? The more I spend time observing nature, the more I believe that man's motivation for exploration is but the sophistication of a universal instinctive drive deeply ingrained in all living creatures. Life is growth-individuals and species grow in size, in number, and in territory. The peripheral manifestation of growing is exploring the outside world. Plants develop in the most favorable direction, which implies that they have explored the other orientations and found that they are inadequate.
Some plants send feelers at great distances; they send avant-garde shoots before they invade the space that has been acknowledged propitious. For young animals the world is to be explored and discovered from their birth on, and that [52] exploration only ends with death; for the young fox, wilderness is unlimited; for a tuna, the oceans are infinite. Still in the animal world, the physical need for exploration develops as well in individuals as in collectivities-tribes, schools, swarms, packs. In fact, if the baby human being shows the same motivation as a young cat, to explore with all his sensors the strange environment he was born into, the big difference is that the little baby soon stands erect. That radical change came in evolution the day described so well by Ovid, a few years after Christ was born. "God elevated the forehead of Man," wrote Ovid, "and ordered him to contemplate the Stars." Nobody has better described the advent of the mind. The little boy's drive for exploration is soon curtailed temporarily by language. The human species is the only one that has the ability to transfer to the new wave of men, through language, printed material, and electronic media, the results of the exploration of the world performed by previous generations.
Most individuals find their hunger and their thirst for discovery satiated by learning. Learning and experience are [53] factors that often extinguish curiosity, but for those who suffer from an unquenchable intellectual thirst, of course, learning is a fabulous springboard. The exploring part of a plant, of a creature, of a crowd, is always the most vigorous, the most enterprising. When the shoots of a plant, a wisteria, for example, slowly creep over a wall, they are the privileged parts of the plant-those that are favored with the largest circulation of sap. From a purely physiological standpoint, in the American conquest of the West, the American pioneers, who often were originally European outlaws or very rough adventurers, were biologically the cream of Europe; and it took Europe more that a century to recover from that loss of substance.
snip
------------------------------
A lot of interesting remarks about why we explore. I hope you enjoy the read as much as I did.
- LRK -
Viking Mission to Mars
------------------------------
I don't want to take up a lot of space here, so just a paragraph or two from JACQUES COUSTEAU on pages 51-53. He had been describing an unexpected under water find they found on the south coast of Dhia, a small island lying 8 miles north of Crete.
I trust you will read more on line.
- LRK -
------------------------------
http://history.nasa.gov/EP-
snip
When man explores for resources, his [51] motivations are clear. They are what we call, superficially, logic. But why would we spend one full year of our lives and over $2 million just to raise a tiny corner of the veil concealing a few episodes of our past? What is the origin of the devouring curiosity that drives men to commit their lives, their health, their reputation, their fortunes, to conquer a bit of knowledge, to stretch our physical, emotional, or intellectual territory? The more I spend time observing nature, the more I believe that man's motivation for exploration is but the sophistication of a universal instinctive drive deeply ingrained in all living creatures. Life is growth-individuals and species grow in size, in number, and in territory. The peripheral manifestation of growing is exploring the outside world. Plants develop in the most favorable direction, which implies that they have explored the other orientations and found that they are inadequate.
Some plants send feelers at great distances; they send avant-garde shoots before they invade the space that has been acknowledged propitious. For young animals the world is to be explored and discovered from their birth on, and that [52] exploration only ends with death; for the young fox, wilderness is unlimited; for a tuna, the oceans are infinite. Still in the animal world, the physical need for exploration develops as well in individuals as in collectivities-tribes, schools, swarms, packs. In fact, if the baby human being shows the same motivation as a young cat, to explore with all his sensors the strange environment he was born into, the big difference is that the little baby soon stands erect. That radical change came in evolution the day described so well by Ovid, a few years after Christ was born. "God elevated the forehead of Man," wrote Ovid, "and ordered him to contemplate the Stars." Nobody has better described the advent of the mind. The little boy's drive for exploration is soon curtailed temporarily by language. The human species is the only one that has the ability to transfer to the new wave of men, through language, printed material, and electronic media, the results of the exploration of the world performed by previous generations.
Most individuals find their hunger and their thirst for discovery satiated by learning. Learning and experience are [53] factors that often extinguish curiosity, but for those who suffer from an unquenchable intellectual thirst, of course, learning is a fabulous springboard. The exploring part of a plant, of a creature, of a crowd, is always the most vigorous, the most enterprising. When the shoots of a plant, a wisteria, for example, slowly creep over a wall, they are the privileged parts of the plant-those that are favored with the largest circulation of sap. From a purely physiological standpoint, in the American conquest of the West, the American pioneers, who often were originally European outlaws or very rough adventurers, were biologically the cream of Europe; and it took Europe more that a century to recover from that loss of substance.
snip
------------------------------
A lot of interesting remarks about why we explore. I hope you enjoy the read as much as I did.
- LRK -
Viking Mission to Mars
- http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/
- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
==============================
- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
==============================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK
==============================
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