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A Call for an Education Initiative at NASA: Remembering the Road to HagerstownAuthor(s): Robert A. BrownReviewed work(s):Source: Leonardo, Vol. 24, No. 3 (1991), pp. 345-350Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1575580 .

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SPACE ART

A Call for an Education

Initiative at NASA: Remembering the Road to Hagerstown

Robert A. Brown

T e Hubble Space Telescope was launched

by the space shuttle Discovery in April 1990. The institute in Baltimore where I work will conduct the Hubble science

program when the telescope becomes operational. From 1983 to 1985, I was NASA's chief scientist for the Hubble

project, which is the most complicated and costly-$2 bil-

lion-space science mission to date.

Speaking to assembled guests at Kennedy Space Center on 10 April 1990, Lennard Fisk, NASA's associate administrator for science, likened Hubble to a pair of glasses for "the little nearsighted child in the classroom, who can at last see what the teacher has been writing on the blackboard" [1]. There are fewer than 7,000 professional astronomers in the United States, of whom 680 won Hubble observing time in the first round of proposals. Somehow, the taxpayers will

put on the Hubble 'glasses' through this small group. But

why? And how will they benefit?

Though my job at the institute is 'astronomer', planets and satellites are the objects of my research rather than

astrophysical exotica like quasars or black holes. I spend a lot of time now on planning committees discussing how to

pursue solar system exploration-"Our Nation's quest for the unknown", as President Bush described it, which "took American pioneers from the bluffs of the Mississippi to the mountains of the Moon" [2].

Like astronomy, planetary exploration is expensive business, especially when manned missions are involved. The

Apollo lunar missions cost about $80 billion in today's dollars, and sending humans back to the Moon again and on to Mars will cost much more. Even including planetary scientists like myself with the astronauts, there is only one

'planetary explorer' for every 10 professional astronomers.

Through these few surrogates, the taxpayers are somehow to explore the solar system. But in what way-and why?

America is now debating the value and priority of feder-

ally funded exploration like Hubble and 'Moon to Mars'. The average citizen supports the space program but usually ranks it below social programs. President Bush says space is a social program, the purpose of which is to regenerate America. The Congress questions where the money will come from, and advocates respond that space is an investment that will pay for itself in productivity gains years from now. Critics say that any specific benefits of the space program, such as stimulus to education or technological spin- offs, could be more directly acquired at lower cost. However, advocates see a grand design. They call exploration a tonic for America, which will catalyze innovation, discovery and

progress in all aspects of life. This vision, critics say, is

Pergamon Press plc. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-094X/91 $3.00+0.00

impractical and romantic. The

space program's advocates ac-

knowledge the romance but

allege that it is a practical romance, with real, positive con-

sequences. And so the debate continues.

Several factors complicate the issue of the social importance of space exploration. First, advocates mainly base their calls for exploration on assertions about our national

personality, which, like that of any individual, colors so much of our existence that it is awkward to assess and ac- commodate. Second, explora-

ABSTRACT

Invited to address an awards banquet in Hagerstown, Maryland, honoring outstanding educators in the community for their efforts on behalf of young people, the author prepared for his speech by thinking about the meaning of frontiers, pioneers, technological innovation, discovery, science and-especially-the grand tableau of American exploration. He shares here his vision for the U.S. space program, a future that could take us all to the Moon and Mars and far beyond.

tion means many things to many people. Third, the space program is configured mainly to accomplish tasks in space, not on earth. Missing are both integral and ancillary programs designed to achieve maximum social benefit from

exploration. Those associated benefits are largely left to chance. The net effect is that the space program's past performance and future plans are difficult to review accord-

ing to their social value, except anecdotally. Some analysts of the space program have concluded that

the social benefits of space exploration are serendipitous by nature, and that therefore they have no architectural implications for the space program. I disagree. I believe the stimulus of exploration is real because it has a track record in America. I believe much more can be done to harvest the unique benefits of space exploration. Indeed, I propose a

program architecture to maximize them, one based on the

special values and significance of 'exploration'-a dream world that I have traced in America's memory and along a

special road in Maryland.

ROAD BUILDING IN MARYLAND

The colonial Assembly passed the first Maryland road law in 1666 [3]. It called for ways "passable by horse or foot" to connect the colony's headwaters, for which the inhabitants

Robert A. Brown (astronomer), Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A.

This article is based on "The Way to Hagerstown", a lecture presented to the (hamber of Commerce, Hagerstown, MD, 6June 1990.

Received 13July 1990. Accepted for publication by Roger F. Malina.

LEONARDO, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 345-350, 1991 345



would pay in labor or tobacco. One hundred and fifty years later, federal dollars were building the all-weather National Road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, West Virginia. A few years later, Cumberland was connected eastward through Hagerstown to Baltimore by the Bank Road-so named because the capital for its construction was legislated ransom paid by Maryland banks to secure their charter renewals around 1820. Today, Wash-

ington Street in Hagerstown covers the wagon tracks of the first wave of settlers entering the American West, the metaphorical object of all Ameri- can exploring.

The National Road-its essence and its surrounding history, as well as the issues it raised-is a herald of

today's debate on the American space program. The first construction on what would be the National Road was directed by Lieutenant-Colonel George Washington at age 21 in 1754. He marched from Virginia with a small force to confront the French at Fort

Duquesne (now Pittsburgh). When his supply wagons were stalled on the narrow trace northwest of Cumber- land, Washington's men widened it to 6 feet with their axes.

After the Revolution and before

becoming president, General Washing- ton worked tirelessly to promote frontier routes for binding the young nation

together. The main object was the Ohio

country, which, though ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris, still 'stood on a pivot' between the United States, Spain and England. Washington lobbied Congress, scouted the water-

ways and woods, and served as director of the Potomac Company, which spent $700,000 improving the Potomac River for inland boat traffic.

In 1806, with the national debt

nearly paid off, Congress authorized President Thomas Jefferson "to regu- late the laying out and making a road from Cumberland in the State of Mary- land to the State of Ohio" [4]. The first contracted construction for the National Road began in the administration ofJames Madison (1811), and the all-weather route was completed from Cumberland to Wheeling in the second

year ofJames Monroe's tenure (1818). It was cleared to a width of 66 feet, leveled to 30 and paved 20 feet wide with 12-18 inches of crushed stones.

President Monroe had qualms about the propriety of the U.S. government being in the road business, as had Jefferson and Madison before him. The

question was whether federal powers included making 'internal improvements' or whether the Constitution must be amended to permit it. Federal- ists argued that the union would be strengthened by domestic projects sponsored by the federal treasury; the

contrary view was that making states pay for improvements that did not benefit them, or perhaps canceling an existing local advantage, would cause dissen- sion and risk splitting the union. In 1822, Monroe vetoed as unconstitu- tional an act for the repair and preser- vation of the National Road.

The next president, John Quincy Adams, was a great advocate of all kinds of federal improvements. However, he was a minority president, so his proposals met stiff resistance. He staunchly defended the National Road: "To how

many thousands has it been a benefit? To what individual has it ever proved an injury?" [5]. Despite general agree- ment that it had been a success, Congress gave the National Road back to the states through which it ran in 1832, during the administration of Andrew Jackson.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRONTIER

Six of the first seven American presidents grappled with implications of a

single 131-mile road-the first pioneers' route west from the 13 colonies. The National Road opened a magnificent continent to exploration and engen- dered a spiritual legacy that every sub-

sequent president has perpetuated. Today, outer space is an obscure frontier compared with the American West. Prairies, mountains and forests are

self-justifying. Nevertheless, the most recent eight presidents have, to a remarkable degree, framed the social and political significance of outer space by using the issues, rhetoric and sym- bolism of earlier exploration.

Whether today's lack of consensus about space exploration means this

history-oriented framework is inade-

quate, or whether many people accept the framework but believe that space exploration is relatively less important than other programs, is not clear. In either case, whether by merit or

by default, exploration in and of itself defines the central issue in America's

space debate today. 'Exploration' is a remarkable word

in that it remains distinctive in refer- ence despite its wide usage. For Ameri-

cans especially, exploration denotes

learning, positive experience and, es-

pecially, change. Seeming to promise renewal, progress and productivity, the word is used in America to conjure positive images and inspire. For us, exploration has no negative connotations, in contrast to its seeming opposites such as 'complacency' and 'contentment'.

At one time the spirit of exploration infused the whole of Western civilization. According to historian Stephen J. Pyne, exploration is something done not just by a civilization but also to it.

Only a peculiar civilization will allow itself, its understandings, its values, in- stitutions and learning, to be con- stantly bombarded with novelty- much less to encourage and promote novelty, with the inevitable conse- quences that the perspectives and values of that civilization will be in constant turmoil. It is as though an ecosys- tem deliberately stripped off the ozone layer and allowed itself to be violently radiated in the hopes of speeding up its biological evolution. That exploration has become itself a central institu- tion-and its capacity to challenge, a value-is part of the dynamism of Western discovery. It is part of what has prevented those nations who have been active in exploration from laps- ing into the status of folk societies [6].

Whether our country or any other must explore the literal frontier of

space to avoid decline is debatable even if one accepts Pyne's assertions. How-

ever, the stakes in that debate are indis-

putably higher for America than for any other nation. For only America has institutionalized exploration-the pure exercise of freedom-as its defining essence.

In 1893, historian FrederickJackson Turner proposed that exploration is the key to understand both America and Americans:

From the conditions of frontier life came intellectual traits of profound importance. The works of travelers along each frontier from colonial days on- ward describe certain common traits, and these traits have, while softening down, still persisted as survivals in the place of their origin, even when a higher social organization succeeded. The result is that to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics. That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedien ts; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom-these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out

346 Brown, A Call for an Education Initiative at NASA



elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier [7].

The notion that exploration has also

stamped the character of individual Americans is not controversial today; however, not many Americans interpret their differences with foreign nationals in those terms.

I recently attended an international

symposium on space technology and science in Tokyo. On the first day, I listened to the official representatives of many countries describe their national space programs. All of them- from Norway, Sweden, Canada, Austra- lia, Brazil, USSR, United States, Korea, Italy, France and Japan-projected a view of space as a peaceful arena where

high technology can improve the human condition and promote international cooperation. A few, including the representative from the United States, spoke of fundamental scientific research. However, only the U.S. representative mentioned the spiritual effects of exploration as the ultimate rationale for space activities. He said, in effect, that America goes into space knowing it will be changed, and that Americans want change, though we do not know where it will lead.

LIGHTHOUSES OF THE SKIES

On 23 November 1843, John Quincy Adams-76 years of age and in poor health-traveled across the foot of

Washington County on the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) train from Harper's Ferry, Virginia, headed for the Balti- more junction. He had risen at four o'clock that morning in Cumberland, whence he had come from Cincinnati, part way on the National Road. He took midday dinner in Harper's Ferry before

crossing the Potomac, and he would

sleep that evening in Washington City. Once president, now a member of Con-

gress for Massachusetts, Adams was re-

turning from a trip of great personal significance in which he had laid the cornerstone of an observatory.

Finished two years later, the Cin- cinnati Observatory was paid for by public subscriptions collected by the

great nineteenth-century popularizer of science, Ormsby MacKnight Mitchell. This observatory was among the ear- liest built in America. It stood for some-

thing Congressman Adams had sought for America over decades of public service: a national program of astronomical exploration.

In his first address to the nation in 1825, then-president Adams remarked that

connected with the establishment of a [national] university, or separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of an astronomical observatory, with pro- vision for the support of an astronomer, to be in constant attendance of observation upon the phenomena of the heavens; and for the periodical publication of his observations. It is with no feeling of pride, as an Ameri- can, that the remark may be made that, on the comparatively small territorial surface of Europe, there are existing upward of one hundred and thirty of these light-houses of the skies; while throughout the whole American hemi- sphere there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon the discoveries which, in the last four centuries, have been made in the physical constitution of the universe by the means of these buildings, and of observers stationed in them, shall we doubt of their useful- ness to every nation? And while scarcely a year passes over our heads without bringing some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain receive at second-hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from the means of returning light for light, while we have neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the globe, and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to our unsearching eyes? [8].

The Hubble Space Telescope is the

greatest of Adams's 'light-houses of the skies'. A means of exploring distant

geographies, Hubble is also an instru- ment of scientific discovery-an identi- fication that led Office of Management and Budget Director Richard Darman to name it "a metaphor for a renewed

spirit of basic exploration" [9].

SCIENCE, THE ENDLESS FRONTIER

Adams's belief in the beneficial aspects of scientific exploration for the nation as a whole came to fruition at the close of World War II, when the American

leadership recognized the valuable contributions that science had made to the Allied victory. President Roosevelt asked Vannevar Bush, who led the war- time science effort in the United States, to describe the lessons of science for

peacetime. "New frontiers of the mind are before us", Roosevelt wrote to Bush, "and if they are pioneered with the same vision, boldness and drive with which we have waged this war we can create a fuller and more fruitful em-

ployment and a fuller and more fruitful life" [10]. The response, delivered to

President Truman, was the report Science, the Endless Frontier, which stands as the manifesto for today's federal science program. In his introduction, Bush echoed Roosevelt's exploration metaphor: "The pioneer spirit is still

vigorous within this nation. Science offers a largely unexplored hinterland for the pioneer who has the tools for this task. The rewards of such exploration both for the Nation and the individual are great" [11]. And under the banner "Science Is a Proper Concern of Government", the report likened science funding to earlier federal in- vestments in exploration, such as the National Road: "It has been basic United States policy that Government should foster the opening of new frontiers. It opened the seas to clipper ships and furnished land for pioneers. Al-

though these frontiers have more or less

disappeared, the frontier of science remains. It is in keeping with the Ameri- can tradition-one which has made the United States great-that new frontiers shall be made accessible for development by all American citizens" [12].

THE ARGUMENT FOR A NEW NATIONAL ROAD

Our country has a real problem with education in and related to science. The youth of America are failing to learn adequate science and math skills. The shortfall undermines our economy, which depends on advanced tech-

nology and industrial innovation. Also, our citizens are not prepared for the

politics of science, that is, for confronta- tion with scientific issues such as environmental change, nuclear energy and natural resource depletion. In his first annual address in 1790, Washing- ton dwelt on the importance of an informed electorate to the healthy functioning of democracy; the 1988 Science Report Card issued by the Edu- cational Testing Service stated that "the

thinking skills and science knowledge [of half the 17-year-olds in the United States] seem to be inadequate for informed participation in the nation's civic affairs" [13].

The U.S. space program is viewed

by many as an important avenue for addressing the problems of an uninformed electorate. Calling space activities "the cornerstone of my Ad- ministration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's future", Presi- dent Bush said recently that "our space program will help rekindle public inter-

Brown, A Call for an Education Initiative at NASA 347



est in science and mathematics, and revitalize an area of our educational

system that has become disturbingly weak" [14]. Admiral Richard Truly, the NASA administrator, has echoed this

priority. He recently predicted "that no other benefit from our future space endeavors will loom so large" as its effects on education [15].

Accepting the premise that educational stimulus is the primary social benefit of space exploration, it is remarkable that implementation of the education-related objectives should be so widely viewed as peripheral to planning for the space program. With such

weight placed on social impact, achiev-

ing those objectives should not be left to serendipity! For example, learning is the sole purpose of an observatory. Yet, the Hubble observatory was built without an integrated or even an associated educational program. Is that not akin to acquiring Ohio but not

building a National Road to it? The Moon-Mars mission should

ensure, by design, the maximum availability of that stimulus to the individual Americans who can benefit from it. That much is expected of any federal

program. But, furthermore, a strong educational facet to solar system exploration would achieve a special res- onance because exploration is also

integral to education. That is, in Amer- ica we say the role of government is not to provide answers but rather to en-

courage the development of skills and

opportunities to find answers. In other words, government should enable in- dividuals to explore. Indeed, the Amer- ican philosophy of education is to

prepare young people for the freedom

they will inherit as adults. The Moon- Mars mission can be planned to open doors of the mind in ways that are

appropriate and natural.

AN EDUCATION INITIATIVE

IN ASTRONOMY

A recent exercise in the field of astron-

omy is instructive about building bridges between education and federal

programs of scientific exploration. The National Academy of Sciences is now

conducting the third decadal survey of

astronomy in the United States. The

purpose is to assess the health of the

federally funded astronomy program, and to identify opportunities and resources required for its future progress. I am privileged to be a member of two subgroups of the Astronomy Survey

Committee, the planetary panel and the policy panel, where education has

emerged as an important issue. Education, in the Astronomy Survey

reports for the 1970s and 1980s, meant

educating astronomers. The issues were the size of the astronomy research work force and the employability of astronomers-too many astronomers were

being trained! In the 1990s, the fore- most education problem for astronomers is the population at large. Civic factors put the nation's educational ills squarely before the astronomical community. The president and the state governors have declared war on math and science illiteracy. Who can doubt that astronomy, the 'Queen of Sciences', will be called to service? The widespread public interest in

astronomy-proven over the ages- argues that its capacity to contribute to public education is genuine. Neverthe- less, even with the urgent national

imperative to resolve the problems in our school systems, an education re-

sponse from the astronomical enter-

prise would be meaningless if the

potential contributions are not substantive and realistic.

I led a workshop in Washington, DC, in February 1990 to develop a possible programmatic response to the national educational crisis from the astronomical

community. The workshop participants were selected for their experience in education in astronomy.

The report from the workshop, "An Education Initiative in Astronomy", proposed a major expansion of the

astronomy research program's involve- ment in education. The participants identified pre-college education as the

greatest potential beneficiary of the research community's enhanced in- volvement in education. The group also felt that astronomy has a significant role to play in improving the science

literacy of the public and in attracting more minorities and women into scientific and technical careers.

The report called for enhancing in-service teachers' knowledge and en- thusiasm through astronomy work-

shops at observatories and universities. It encouraged a greater role for commercial companies in disseminating information and educational materials derived from astronomical discoveries. It called for a coordinated educational effort involving the research program and planetaria, as well as museums, scientific societies, the education community, news media and amateur astronomers.

New ways to transfer informationi arc

dramatically changing how we communi-

cate; the report also called for enlisting advanced technologies in astronomy's educational effort. Teleconferences, in- teractive teacher-TV workshops, video animations and compact disks-read only memory (CD-ROMs) in classrooms are

examples of new mechanisms to im-

prove science teaching. The workshop participants saw the

human resources of astronomy as a key element of educational efforts. Data are

important only when trained minds turn the information into under- standing and excitement that can affect others. Because of the intense public interest in their subject, most astronomers feel a strong sense of commit- ment to education, and their personal initiative should be encouraged. Addi- tional funding could start mentorship programs for pre-college students who show an exceptional talent in mathematics and science. Professional astronomers could work with book publishers and school boards to improve the ac- curacy and current interest in cturricula and teaching materials.

The workshop participants made two

programmatic recommendations to im-

plement the foregoing education tac- tics and strategies: augment research facilities so they become education centers and create an effective liaison between education and research program offices in the federal bureaucracy.

With respect to the first recommen- dation, national observatories are the storefronts of federally funded astron-

omy research. Therefore, they offer

special opportunities for communicat-

ing the values, methods and rewards of science to teachers, students and the

public. These facilities should be sources of information and data pro- ducts of educational value. Because they are concentration points of astronomers and astronomical activity, these locations could be adapted to provide high-impact learning contacts, especially for science teachers, museum and planetarium professionals, and the media.

With regard to the second recom- mendation, the workshop participants felt that the broad resources of a research program could be engaged in education only through the program structure itself. Because of the breadth of the educational problem, astronomy could take on only a contributory rather than leadership role. Thus a coordinated approach is required. The participation of interests external to




astronomy would increase the effective- ness and penetration of astronomy's contributions. A focus within the astron-

omy program offices, such as through an education liaison, would improve coherence, participation and recogni- tion of benefits accrued from education-related efforts. The report recom- mended that the education liaison

provide coordination with related-

especially, the education-programs of the home agency and elsewhere within the government. Also, it should facilitate collaborative efforts with outside educational, commercial, governmen- tal and private interests.

All told, astronomy research is an annual investment of nearly $1 billion, which supports a remarkable range of activities, all with educational possibilities of one kind or another. 'Opening the astronomical door' would take

advantage of two recent factors-new research facilities and modern communications technologies-added to a

perennial third, astronomy's universal interest. This triad could enable the

engagement of millions in the excitement of scientific exploration. As the

workshop participants noted, it is start-

ling for astronomers to realize the

potential of their contributions!

TECHNOLOGY

BRIDGES THE GAP

The education-astronomy workshop and

report were the first attempt ever to formulate a systematic connection between education and the astronomy research enterprise, perhaps the first for

any federally funded science. Building bridges between astronomy and education is relatively easy because the two

activities-acquiring new scientific know-

ledge and passing it on-are directly related. The connection between space exploration and education is more

complex. It is based more on experien- tial than on intellectual factors, and the

experience itself is not direct. There- fore, my ideas about the Moon-Mars education program are qualitative and

speculative. I see a similarity between what will be

built into Moon-Mars missions to stimulate learning and the early federal road to the wilderness. The National Road made the experience of exploring possible for the general public. It was a line of communication, and knowl-

edge, people and ideas all traversed that road. The resulting benefits corre-

sponding to what we wish to achieve in the space program are what Turner believed to be "traits called out elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier" [16].

To set the scope of the Moon-Mars education program, and to invite

speculation about its implications be-

yond what I provide below, I propose the following question: to what extent can the people left on earth share the

experience of exploring the solar system? I assert that it is the degree to which technology and planning can

produce the illusion of being there, exploring the planets, that will deter- mine to what extent the endeavor can affect individual Americans.

I propose that the Moon-Mars program be designed to assure maximum availability of the experience of space exploration to people who can benefit from the inspirational effects. I propose to elevate education from a serendipitous enterprise to a design criterion for the space program's architecture. Edu- cation is compatible with all missions and space activities. However, it is a substantive program element that should be integrated into the space program now. In fact, the implementation program I envision could yield real benefits in the early stages of planning Moon-Mars missions.

In the first instance, the glory of ex-

ploration is experienced alone by the

explorer. Others receive it through the transference of experience. Based on

techniques developed over thousands of years, this transfer is the stock-in- trade of literature, art, music and theatre. The sciences of human experience are also relevant: epistemology, mind-brain research and education

theory, to name a few. Whole profes- sions and disciplines not currently involved in space exploration have a role to play in the Moon-Mars education

program. A spectacular series of technical de-

velopments have augmented the art of illusion. In prehistory, the explorer transmitted his or her experience orally, and others repeated it as best they could. Later, explorers wrote books, which gave them audiences far beyond their times and places. Then came

photography, radio, movies and televi- sion-all of which improved the fidelity of recording and replaying experiences and widened the bandwidth available for transmitting them.

In the future, the technological basis of shared experience will ex-

pand as computers become more

capable, optical-bandwidth communications channels emerge and sensors and displays increase in complexity and diminish in size. These developments would happen without the Moon-Mars missions, but less rapidly than if the tech-

nology (and what it can accomplish) became a core part of the space program. This technology has tremendous commercial potential, and its acceleration would be ignited and leveraged by the

space program, rather than subsidized

by it. The capabilities envisioned for the

Moon-Mars education program could revolutionize interpersonal and business communications, and education in general. The telephone already puts two people together, at the 90% level, even though they are continents apart. What if that could be improved to 99% or 99.9%? What if business conferences were replaced by virtual meetings where participants felt they were in the same room, but were not? What about

replacing a college year off in an Afri- can village for a single student with a course that transports a whole class of students-all but literally-to Africa

today, India tomorrow,Japan the next

day, etc.? The possibilities are endless, and the potential beneficiaries include

important groups such as the hand-

icapped and the homebound. In intellectual terms, the pursuit

of the Moon-Mars education initiative will address fundamental questions about the factors that contribute to the quality of human communication, and how that communication becomes more complete and satisfying. In technology, the program will stimulate new combinations of instruments for sens-

ing, communicating, processing and

displaying information. These technol-

ogies have generality, commercial interest and far-reaching implications.

By the time I shared my far-out vision of how to extract the stimulus of space exploration, I had covered a lot of

ground with my original audience for these ideas in the talk that I delivered at Hagerstown. Then, as now, I am mo- tivated by a personal belief that exploration is important for America today. The audience at Hagerstown found that conviction contagious, as, I hope, will Leonardo readers. Today, perhaps they believe that tomorrow's space program is building toward them and toward their concerns-much as a different federal road once did.

Browtn, A Call for an Education Initiative at NASA 349



References and Notes

1. Lennard Fisk, remarks delivered at a press con- ference for the launch of the Hubble Space Tele- scope at Cape Canaveral, FL, 10 April 1990.

2. President George Bush, remarks delivered at commencement exercises, Texas A&I University, Kingsville, 11 May 1990.

3. State Roads Commission of Maryland, A History of Road Building in Maryland (Baltimore: State Roads Commission of Maryland, 1958) p. 2.

4. State Roads Commission of Maryland [3].

5. John Quincy Adams, "First Inaugural Address", in The Selected Writings ofJohn andJohn Quincy Adams, Adrienne Koch and William Peden, eds. (New York: Knopf, 1946) p. 359.

covery", in The Scientific and Historical Rationalesfor Solar System Exploration (Washington, DC: George Washington Univ. Press, 1988) p. 19.

7. FrederickJackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", in The Frontier in American History (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1962) pp. 37-38.

8. John Quincy Adams, "First Annual Address to the Nation", in State of the Union Messages of the Presidents, Vol. 1 (New York: Chelsea House, 1966) p. 246.

9. Richard Darman, "Keeping America First: American Romanticism and the Global Economy", the second annual Albert H. Gordon Lecture delivered at Harvard University, 1 May 1990, Cam- bridge, MA.

Bush, in Vannevar Bush, TheEndlessFrontier: Report to the President on a Program for Postwar Scientific Research (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Print- ing Office, 1945) p. viii.

11. Bush [10] p.vi.

12. Bush [10] p. 6.

13. InaV. S. Mullis and Lynn B.Jenkins, The Science Report Card: Elements of Risk and Recovery (Princeton: Educational Testing Service, 1988) p. 6.

14. Bush [2].

15. Richard Truly, remarks delivered at the National Press Club, November 1989, Washington, DC.

6. Stephen J. Pyne, "The Third Great Age of Dis- 10. Letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Vannevar 16. Turner [7] p. 37.




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