As things stand, bad weather may delay the launch. There is currently a 70% chance of a delay. Weather is crucial as the conditions must be right not only at Cape Canaveral where the launch is to occur, but also at all of the possible landing sites around the globe. It is a logistically difficult arrangement.
Regardless of whether the launch occurs today or not, it will occur at some point and when Atlantis subsequently returns to earth the entire shuttle program will be over.
In some ways this is a sad moment in our history. Though the shuttle program was created with the express purpose of enabling the construction of the International Space Station, and though this task is now complete, to many of us this seems to signal the end of the era of United States space exploration.
With a poor economy and tightening government budgets the entire NASA program is being examined and some believe we can no longer afford the luxury of venturing into space with humans.
Personally, I hope they are outvoted and that human colonization of space continues, for a multitude of reasons, too lengthy for this article.
But in another way, I worry about the future of American dominance in science and technology. Every year our colleges and universities churn out thousands of scientists and engineers, but many and possibly most are of foreign origin and many of these return to countries such as China, India and Japan upon completing their studies. There they contribute to the rising power of their own nations in Science and technology. While in the meantime our own young people find less and less interest in these crucial fields preferring sports or entertainment as possible careers. Science is not “cool”.
Specifically, check out this article about the dearth of qualified young leaders in the space program:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110705/full/475015a.html
Well, we must change that line of thinking! Science is cool! And science is fun!
School assemblies and science assembly programs are designed specifically to excite children and inspire them to pursue further studies in science by showing them the power and mystery to be found in these areas.
Whether it be a school show about physics, or a portable planetarium, a live animal program or a school show about some great inventor like Ben Franklin or Thomas Edison, school science assemblies excite children and show them that science is cool and that science is extremely fun!
If you are searching for ideas for elementary school assemblies and shows, while we certainly see the value in a visit from an author, and while a magician or a juggler may be fun, please don’t forget to schedule something in science. If we fail to inspire our kids to become jugglers, though it would be sad, we will survive. If we fail to produce the next generation of great scientists and inventors ... well, that would not be good at all, would it?
Let us hope that the children in schools today become the explorers who tomorrow will once more take up the task of pushing forward the scope of our knowledge of the universe!
Geoff Beauchamp is the Regional Manager of Mobile Ed Productions where "Education Through Entertainment" has been the guiding principal since 1979. Mobile Ed Productions produces and markets quality educational school assembly programs in the fields of science, history, writing, astronomy, natural science, mathematics, character issues and a variety of other curriculum based areas. In addition, Mr. Beauchamp is a professional actor with 30 years of experience in film, television and on stage. He created and still performs occasionally in Mobile Ed's THE LIVING LINCOLN.