Monday was the 47th anniversary of the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik, the world's first orbiting man-made satellite. How fitting that it also was the day SpaceShipOne won the $10 million prize for being the first private manned spacecraft to enter space and return to Earth twice within two weeks.
SpaceShipOne didn't make as big an impact as Sputnik. The public, after all, is so used to space shuttle orbits, live pictures from Mars and other ventures that it would be hardly inclined to go nuts over a ship that travels 62 miles into the sky.
And yet, the impact could be even larger than Sputnik with time.
In 1957, Sputnik shocked the world and energized America's competitive spirit. It led directly to a space program that culminated with the first man on the moon in 1969. Congress funded this incredibly expensive venture because it was motivated. Dominance in space was more than just a battle for bragging rights among rivals on Earth. It held untold implications for military dominance and freedom, as well.
In 2004, Congress has no such motivation. President Bush has declared a goal of returning to the moon and eventually landing a human on Mars, but there is no Soviet threat out there to act as a catalyst, and the projected costs are enormous. Private business, however, has built-in motivations.
SpaceShipOne was financed by billionaire Paul Allen, presumably because he wants a leg up on anyone else who might want to get into the act. This, very likely, is the only way major space exploration could be funded in the future. At the least, a private-public partnership, with companies competing for the privilege, makes the idea of a trip to Mars seem all the more plausible.
And what exactly is the act Allen wants to get a piece of? What is the aim of private space flight? Is it just for millionaire tourists to get thrill rides?
That isn't clear. But maybe it doesn't have to be. Go back to the New York Times' coverage of Sputnik 47 years ago today. It said, "Military experts have said that the satellites would have no practicable military application in the foreseeable future. . . . The satellites could not be used to drop atomic or hydrogen bombs or anything else on the Earth, scientists have said. Nor could they be used in connection with the proposed plan for aerial inspection of military forces around the world."
Part of that is simply laughable. Part of it totally false. Today, the military can use satellites to see all kinds of things on Earth, include things as tiny as license plate numbers. But in addition, satellites are the basis for a global communication system that has made information and commerce flow in ways not dreamed of in 1957. Even hikers use hand-held GPS units to keep from getting lost.
With limited experiences and imagination, people back then were thinking in terms of dropping bombs from impossible heights. Today, most people are equally limited in imagining the future of private space flight.
Here's hoping it will take the world to places of which it has yet to dream.