[ATM] re Anybody home etc.,

[Richard in the UK]

Hello lance,

Sunday, October 18, 2009, 3:29:16 AM, you wrote:

> It's easy to say it's because kids are lazy or have no attention
> spans.

I don't know what it is. I do know that when I was 8 and I first
pointed a 3" refractor at Saturn I was awe struck at the beauty I was
looking at and could almost 'feel' this object hanging there. Maybe
you know what I mean. It was a defining moment of my life, I am
certain.

I showed a similar sight to a friends son and the comment was along
the lines of "what does it do?". Oh well, slightly better than a grunt
I guess.

Back at the time of my epiphany, Mercury was under way and "Space" was
on the tip of everybody's tongue. Following years just got better and
better and there wasn't a kid on the block who wasn't interested in
space etc. So now, yes, there is much to distract the younguns, but
how much is our lack of follow up on NASA's early achievements to
blame?. OK, we built a lumbering great piece of metal orbiting the
Earth, but we should have been out there by now. We should have at
least landed man on Mars and have a thriving Moon station. And if we
had, I am sure kids would be a lot more interested in what is out
there. Just my tuppence (0.02UKP) worth.

-- 
Best regards,
 Richard in the UK