President George W. Bush made a campaign promise in 2000 to land a man on Mars during his tenure. September 11, 2001, was the beginning and end of that unifying national endeavour. And then in 2009 President Obama signed away the Constellation Class manned spacecraft meant to replace the Space Shuttle fleet. With the swish of his pen, Obama ended our manned space program. America was forced to hitch rides into space with the Russians. On that day America lost the Space Race. The Russians had won. Such disillusionment I felt. I felt betrayed by my country.

Going back long before this, back to my college days, my roommate Russ suggested I read the Robert A. Heinlein novel “The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.” This book introduced me to two sci fi concepts that have become tropes:

  • The quantum multiverse.
  • The Space Race was between giant corporations and not nation states.

These were brand new considerations for me. The way I saw the multiverse was a “Sliding Doors” construction of individual decisions creating different branches in a person’s life. How these branching decisions intersected with other people and their branching decisions was a mind boggling tapestry of infinity.

By contrast, the idea of the aerospace industry completely bypassing government funding and just doing it themselves made perfect sense. More efficient without government bureaucracy. More innovative by way of capitalist competition. And more beneficial to humankind in all the new technologies developed for space exploration being used in everyday civilian life; this is true in our universe as well, although it’s a much slower progression due to the middle man called government being involved.

I’ve been open and vocal about criticizing Obama’s nitwit idea to kill the Constellation Class, which by the by was a return to the capsule model of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, just like the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner. And there our space program lay, not just fallow, but just dead on the ground. Literally.

Enter private industry. Virgin Galactic. Blue Origin. SpaceX. Sure, there remains some collaboration between industry and government yet. SpaceX uses NASA infrastructure as launching sites. For now. But for SpaceX and private industry something truly significant and record breaking happened this week.

Polaris Dawn.

This SpaceX mission was crewed entirely by civilians and funded entirely by private industry. The apogee is the greatest distance from Earth for any space flight since Apollo 17 in the 1970s. It’s the greatest distance from Earth for any woman ever. Two women at that. And it’s the first private industry EVA (space walk) to test the technology of these super cool new space suits that by conventional standards look too thin and frail.

“That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”

  • Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon.

It’s a first small step and a giant leap to returning to the Moon and a first small step and a giant leap to landing on Mars. I don’t think most people realize how momentus Polaris Dawn is. I watched the EVA at 4AM my time and there was less than 1.4 million people watching live. Less 1.4 million people witnessed this first small step and giant leap live.

Hear you me, my friend. Every small step is a giant leap from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Testing the new space suits in the vacuum of space is small and giant. He’s made it clear since he first launched his Tesla to Mars that interplanetary colonization is his dream for humankind. It’s a dream I’ve shared since a wee lad. Understanding the blip existence of our planet and knowing the number of mass extinctions in our geologic history, from lava below to asteroid above, I know if we want to preserve our specie we’ve got to get our monkey asses off this planet and colonized elsewhere. And thanking every star above Elon Musk recognizes this, too.

I grew up at the tail end of Apollo missions and through the Space Shuttle era. Space exploration once was a crowning jewel in our national pride. I felt this pride at every shuttle launch and landing. My heart broke forever when we lost the Challenger and Columbia. Our manned space program was integral to what it meant to be American.

And then Obama plucked that jewel and crushed it beneath his executive order heel. My heart broke in a whole new way. Worse than Challenger and Columbia. Losing space shuttles and astronaut crews is of course tragic. But it means we’re out there striving to be more as a nation and a specie. And then it was gone. I felt maybe forever.

The success of Polaris Dawn this week has renewed my hope and dream of humankind being on Mars in my lifetime. And it’s being accomplished by private industry with little government intrusion.

The point I’m driving at can be summed up in how I feel about all things in human endeavor:

The enemy of innovation is asking for permission.

This is what SpaceX just proved. Elon didn’t wait for American government to give him the okay. He and his companies developed the technology and launched the mission effectively independent of government. It’s like “The Cat Who Walks Through Walls” made real.

If we wait on our government to get us to Mars we’ll never get there. Yes, I’m a bit nostalgic for the unifying patriotism of Apollo and the Space Shuttle. In our country today we could use a unifying national triumph. But considering how half of Americans mocked President Trump for creating the Space Force it’s sadly apparent half of Americans have no interest in being a unified people.

So humankind doesn’t wait. Humankind doesn’t ask permission. And for the first time in my life I know humankind will be on Mars in my lifetime. Yes. Epiphany. I know.

It’s weird looking at SpaceX as the torchbearer of human space exploration instead of the People of the United States of America. That might be a useful paradigm shift for me personally. I’ve been losing faith in our government – and to a smaller degree our people – to strive and achieve for decades. It feels excellent to have faith in something secular that’s bigger than myself again. Going to Mars! In my lifetime! If the price of admission for this secular faith is supporting and cheering on Elon Musk and SpaceX I really think I can get my head and heart on board with that.

In fact, I know I can. Here we come, Mars!