Dateline: Home Study
Today was a great day in many ways. The Space Shuttle returned to flight as Discovery was launched. It was the first launch on July 4th and, I suspect, television viewership may have been up some given it was a holiday (assuming everyone was not out at a picnic).
The disappointing part of the event for me was when NASA Administrator Mike Griffin was asked at the post-launch press briefing what his feelings were when the Shuttle launched. His response was that he would have time for feelings when he was dead; right now he had too much work to do. What a missed opportunity!
One the things that engineering is in dire need of, is more excitement. To attract more to the profession we must show the public what engineering is truly like. We need to let people know that it is fun, that it is rewarding, that it opens the door to many other jobs, and that it is worth doing all the hard work to get an engineering degree. Most any engineer over the age of 40 (possibly even younger) is likely to say that the reason they chose engineering was because of the space program.
Launching a Space Shuttle is complex task. It required many people doing many different jobs to come together at just the right time to make it happen. At launch surely everyone who played a role felt something, even if it was just a sense satisfaction from completing a job. But based on the hugs and handshakes I saw being passed around in the control room on NASA TV, I think more than satisfaction was felt. Heck, even I was excited and I had nothing to do with the launch. Why couldn't the Administrator of NASA have said what he felt when the Shuttle launched? Such a great opportunity lost!
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