A man can dream about many things.
Conquering space for example. Or "the last frontier" as some people call it. Personally I think the last frontier is a good name for it. The frontier was the place where the settlers cultivated the praries, where the trappers and explorers saw lands no white man had ever seen before. Where the ground and the animals turned into gold. A place of adventure, danger, rewards. It is the epitome of the land of the free, the responisbility of the individual. It is the place where cowboys rode into the sunset and where the law was upheld by Colt and Winchester.
The frontier was the string of outposts, settlements, forts, farms where the american dream was made. The promise that everything could be achieved if you only wanted it bad enough.
You see, for some of us Europeans the American fascination of the frontier can be hard to understand. For most Europeans the frontier is the place where civilization stops. While it seems that for an american it is the place where dreams begin. It is the place where the american dream lives.
And when the west was won, when the frontier dissapeared, it was relocated.
To space.
That is why the Colombia lays scattered all over Texas. That is why Challenger was lost.
Some may say that there are other reasons behind those tragic fates. A space race, military interests, economic interests, presidents wanting to make history or congressmen in the pocket of the space industry, obsessed engineers or the lowest bidder...or maybe a broken ceramic tile, a rubber o-ring.
But there would never have been any Columbia or Challenger if it hadnt been for the Americans and their dream, their frontier. And maybe that is the last outpost of old ideals these days, an outpost for the desire to conquer nature, a place where sacrifice, duty, honor still means something.
So while the rest of the world shares your grief over your fallen astronauts, we remain confident that you will return once again to the frontier. And that you will keep on doing these great things in the name of all mankind. To conquer new lands, to visit places never before seen by man. To travel further than anyone has ever gone before. Because it is only you who can do it. No other nation on this Earth seems capable for anything more than to follow in your footsteps. Nowhere does this become more apparent than right now.
You know, I have to wonder if the Iraqis, or the ones squatting in caves in Afghanistan could ever even begin to dream about starting a space program, a program of exploration, to reach for the stars.
I doubt it.
Sometimes you may appear greedy, self-serving or even arrogant, but your system, your way of life, your dream produces some absolutely stunning achievements. You have walked on the moon, you are aiming at Mars.
So at the risk of becoming "the rest of the night was spent holding Kimberly"-material. And for no particular reason, a big
Dont ever change.
