I’ve come out of pseudo-retirement to note a paradigm-shifting date — the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Much virtual ink has been spilled around the web in this regard, yet nothing seems more compelling, readable and incisive than this op-ed piece in the New York Times by the ever-dapper Tom Wolfe. Wolfe wrote The Right Stuff (1979) and has been following American space exploration since before the momentous (and according to some, possibly fictional) event in question.
Essentially, he says a new quest to land men on Mars is key to both an American and global future, and what was lacking in the old NASA zeitgeist wasn’t ingenuity (which they had in spades), but philosophical refection about the whole purpose of the endeavor…That and good “words”.
A sombre swan song about men in space. And a simultaneous ode to the power of language.
By way of the orbiting carnival that is Arts & Letters Daily.
July 21, 2009 at 11:16 am |
Tom Wolfe, as always, in fine form. I still think the most important impact (teflon aside) of the space program is that picture of the earth from space. That big blue beautiful ball, home to us all. But we need to figure out what that means too…
July 21, 2009 at 12:01 pm |
Too true. That image is not only iconic, it is a lesson we have yet to learn. Hopefully it still looks like that when we figure it out…
July 27, 2009 at 1:29 pm |
Last week, Jupiter “took one for the team” as the New York Times put it, with an earth-size meteor that gave the planet a black eye. Did anyone feel a disturbance in the force?
July 27, 2009 at 4:34 pm |
I only do vital forces. Inanimate rocks plowing into one another is not really my thing. Still, I noticed this event and thought it unusual. Highly bizarre, even.
November 2, 2009 at 9:27 pm |
Interesting how Wolfe suggests that leadership should come from philosophers, which was an idea put forward by Plato for any society to be successful.
November 2, 2009 at 10:53 pm |
Philosophers and literary types like himself, I imagine. Not sure how much convergence there is between an idealist philosopher like Plato and a pioneer of new journalism like Wolfe. Although were they in the same room together, it’s not hard to imagine who would be the snappiest dresser…Western civ. classes used to be jokingly labeled “from Plato to NATO”…Maybe an alternative approach might be “from Plato to NASA”.