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Book: America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 20: Time Machine by Walter Knight
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Authors: Walter Knight
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those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward – and so will space.
“William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.
“Man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations, can expect to stay behind in the race for space.
“Those who came before made certain that this country made the first waves of the industrial revolution, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon, and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see space governed by a hostile flag, but by a banner of freedom.
“Yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first; and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world’s leading space-faring nation.
“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force of good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of security or a new terrifying theater of war.
“There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal. And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, thirty-five years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas, and not Boston College?
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and to do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which only America can accomplish.
“Not only will we go to the moon, but we will launch probes to explore the solar system and beyond, to map the stars for America and humanity to follow. The growth of our science and education will be carried by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, and by new tools and computers for industry. Houston, your city of Houston, once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the West, will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space.
“Many years ago , the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’ Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge are there. And therefore, as we set sail, we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”
* * * * *
A year later, a reporter asked, “Will the President be traveling to Dallas for an update on the breakthrough technological and beam propulsion advances?”
“Dallas?” scoffed NASA Assistant
“William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.
“Man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations, can expect to stay behind in the race for space.
“Those who came before made certain that this country made the first waves of the industrial revolution, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon, and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see space governed by a hostile flag, but by a banner of freedom.
“Yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first; and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world’s leading space-faring nation.
“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force of good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of security or a new terrifying theater of war.
“There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal. And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, thirty-five years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas, and not Boston College?
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and to do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which only America can accomplish.
“Not only will we go to the moon, but we will launch probes to explore the solar system and beyond, to map the stars for America and humanity to follow. The growth of our science and education will be carried by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, and by new tools and computers for industry. Houston, your city of Houston, once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the West, will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space.
“Many years ago , the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’ Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge are there. And therefore, as we set sail, we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”
* * * * *
A year later, a reporter asked, “Will the President be traveling to Dallas for an update on the breakthrough technological and beam propulsion advances?”
“Dallas?” scoffed NASA Assistant
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