I was a senior in dental school when the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all of its occupants. If you recall, there was a lot of discussion about what should happen with the manned space program back then.

I was passionate about space exploration then. I still am, but like a lot of us as we age, I have a lot of other concerns. Important concerns. Immediate concerns.

Anyway, back then, I was passionate enough that I wrote an op-ed piece and sent it off to the Chicago Tribune. I didn't know if it would be published, I was never notified that it would or wouldn't be, but one day, a friend of mine called and told me that his mother had seen the piece in the Trib. I immediately went out and got copies of the paper. They're all stuffed away in a box in the basement somewhere.

I never thought to look, till today, to see if the article could be found on the internet. I was reading the blog of SF author Steven M. Moore, today's topic was the death of Neal Armstrong, and the sad state of space exploration by the United States. I recalled the article I wrote, referring to it in my comment on his article, and Steve asked me if I'd care to repost it as a guest blog on his site. I said sure, but I'd have to find it first.

Google: a wondrous thing. There it is:

Man's Destiny is in Space

Read it if you'd like. It is the off-the-cuff comments of a 26 year old who was passionate about science, science fiction, and the future. That would be me.

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