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| Jeffrey L.
Zucker,
LEED AIA |
| Matthew B.
Ackerman, LEED AIA |
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Mission
To Earth
I am a tremendous fan of the exploration of outer
space. When President Kennedy established his ambitious agenda of
landing a man on the moon, he inspired the entire country behind one,
bold vision. I remember pulling off to the side of the road with
my parents in their Airstream trailer to hook up the television and
watch Neal Armstrong take that giant step for mankind.
I have seen all of the Starwars films. I read all of the Edgar Rice
Burroughs books about John Carter’s adventures on Mars. I saw Stanley
Kubrik’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey” seven times.
Thus, it may seem incongruous for me to offer this next piece
of advice to our new President Elect, Barack Obama. I would
respectfully submit, sir, that we forget about that manned mission to
Mars that NASA has its eye on. Maybe “forget” is too harsh of a
word. How about, put it on a back burner until we get our own
house in order.
 I understand that there have been great
scientific breakthroughs due to the space program. And, I
acknowledge that there is something captivating about the whole grand
exploration idea. But, seriously folks, does anybody really think that
we will be colonizing Mars once we trash our own planet? Does
anyone really believe that Mars would be less hostile than, say, the
North Pole? And, who came up with this idea in the first place of
sending a manned expedition to Mars, anyhow? Some genius in the
White House, bent on distracting us from our real problems here on
Earth?
There are literally millions of square miles of this planet that have
never been explored, such as the bottoms of the oceans. There are
tremendous quantities of living organisms on this planet that could
teach us unimagined lessons on how to successfully cope with our very
own environment. Photosynthesis, geothermic energy, and
desalinization are but a few rich areas of exploration that could
benefit from the redistribution of funds currently devoted to
rocketing some men to Mars.
And, guess what? Mars will still be there when we are better
able, financially, to send people there. But, right now, we have
more pressing issues at home. Global warming, a perception of
scarcity of resources, joblessness, poverty, hunger, war,
disease. Obviously, the manned mission to Mars is merely a drop
in the bucket, when you consider that we send two billion dollars a day
to foreign countries for their oil, but every program in the United
States must be scrutinized.
This is a tremendous time of hope in this country. The American “Can
Do” spirit has been rekindled. In the words of Al Gore, “We must
now lift our nation to reach another goal that will change
history. Our entire civilization depends upon us now embarking
upon a new journey of exploration and discovery. Once again, we
have an opportunity to take a giant leap for humankind".
Perhaps, rather than a mission to Mars, what we need right now is a
mission to Earth.
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| Green Technology
of the
Month: |
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The Next
Generation in SIPS (Structural Insulated Panels) 
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| Green Product
of
the Month: |
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Echo Eliminator™ Acoustical Panels Are
Green, Recyclable, And Energy-Efficient
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| Green Builder's Tip of
the Month: |
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**UPDATE** Tax Incentive Programs for Solar
Energy Increased For 2009
AZ Incentives:
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| Green Project
of the
Month: |
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California Academy of Science Building
Blends Technology and Nature |
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CATALYST
ARCHITECTURE
is an award winning, full-service architectural design
firm located in Prescott, Arizona. We specialize in educational,
commercial, master planning and custom residential work, with an
emphasis on high- performance design, and caring client relationships.
At CATALYST, our
mission is to creatively transform the space and budget needs of our
clients, with the opportunities and ecology of the site, into
functional and sustainable solutions that move the spirit.
 Comments
or feedback? Email us.
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