A Step Beyond

Gene Roddenberry - Photo Credit: Getty (Used with permission) In   Star Trek , Captain James T. Kirk would close his voice-over at the beginning of each episode with the phrase “to boldly go where no man has gone before.” These words inspired a generation of engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and designers—including women and people of color who took greater risks to achieve success. They also inspired some people to envision a world living in peace and striving to understand its place in the larger scope of the universe. Star Trek  was the brainchild of Gene Roddenberry. Unlike many creators of science fiction, who tend to look at the future through the lens of the present, Roddenberry imagined an entirely different universe, one where people have put their differences aside and come together for the betterment of all. In contrast to his contemporaries, instead of asking, “What  can  we do?” he posited a different question: “What  should  we do?”...

Photo from the 1893 Columbian Exposition Whenever I visit Chicago, my favorite attraction is the Museum of Science and Industry. The  beautiful , massive building the museum calls home was once called the Palace of Fine Arts, and is now the last remaining structure of the Chicago World’ s Columbian Exposition  that was held there in 1893. World’ s Fairs (or  Expositions and Exhibitions ,  as they were also called) were long, multi-month events popular from 1851 to the 1960s. In a single location, they showcased and celebrated the world’s new technologies and inventions, scientific advancements, cultural contributions in art, and astonishing curiosities. They combined the enterprise of a trade show with the atmosphere of a carnival, which produced an effect that not only entertained, enlightened, and inspired, but also marked seismic shifts in society. People  traveled  great distances to get a glimpse of Edison’s latest invention, the Wright ...

Bolts from the original Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT). I’m a collector of sorts, especially when it comes to Apollo memorabilia. There’s something about being surrounded by these artifacts that ignites and inspires my creativity. While window shopping an online space auction recently, something grabbed my attention––two large bolts including washers and nuts. Though most people probably wouldn’t get too excited about a couple of bolts, these were special, as they were part of the original Launch Umbilical Tower used to launch the Saturn V rockets to the Moon. The bolts were huge, about eight inches in length, weighed about five pounds each, and still had portions covered in the original orange-red paint. Seeing these bolts got me thinking about everything that went into putting a man on the Moon. While we celebrate the 50th anniversary of those missions, the focus tends to be on the astronauts as heroes in the same way they’re portrayed in films like  First Man ,  Apoll...

People gather in Central Park in New York to watch the Moon landing. Imagine an organization with a name recognized in every country in the world, whose every move was watched by hundreds of millions of people, and whose successes fulfilled the dreams of a nation and inspired awe and admiration around the world. This was NASA in the 1960s.   I was five years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to land on the Moon during the flight of Apollo 11. Like many people, I watched the event on a black and white television, and then went outside to look up at the Moon, knowing people were there. For the millions of children across the globe who were inspired by that occurrence, this was a defining brand moment for NASA. The Apollo program set a new and dramatic benchmark for our abilities as a nation. If we can go to the Moon, then what other feats long considered impossible could we accomplish? While President Kennedy’s 1961 announcement to send humans t...

Whether it’s the Illuminati controlling the world, the September 11th attacks being an “inside job,” or people believing the world is flat, conspiracy theories have always existed. One of the most popular conspiracy theories is that the Apollo Moon landings never happened and were faked on a sound stage. The theorists point to a number of perceived issues with film oddities, radiation exposure, flag fluttering, preservation of footprints, lack of lunar module blast craters, no visible flame on the ascent stage, communications delays, and missing telemetry tapes and blueprints . Despite those who have bought into this theory, these issues have been either debunked or logically explained by many people on numerous occasions. Among the issues related to this theory, I’m surprised I’ve never heard of anyone questioning the short length of time it took to go from an idea in May of 1961 to actually landing on the Moon in July of 1969. During that eight-year span, the degree of orchest...