A few years ago, there were serious talks about dumping the Hubble telescope since it's too old and too costly to maintain. I was not happy to hear the news. Knowing how valuable the Hubble was to many scientists, I felt especially bad since I knew many people's careers and research depended on it. So when the then NASA chief Sean O'Keefe came to give the graduation speech at NPS, I decided to used this opportunity to express how I felt.
At the reception afterwards, I went to shake O'Keefe's hand and said to him "please save the Hubble." He smiled back at me and said "we are working on it."
And... well, I didn't follow closely on what happened later, all I know is that the Hubble is still working today :-). Later I jokingly said to a friend that as far as I'm concerned, I saved the Hubble. Now I realized that statement could be more true than I ever imagined.
I liked O'Keefe, I guess that's why I followed his whereabouts even after he left NASA. So it brought me great shock and sadness when I heard the news that he and his son was nearly killed in a plane crash in 2010. Now after becoming aware that everything happen for a reason, I'm sure both the dark side and the light side were involved in the incident -- I'm just not sure which side was responsible for which...
It's all the light side. Light hitting matter creates a shadow. The contrast is what makes the experience intense.
ReplyDeleteWhat is matter then?
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