George Epstein: The Big Things we should be pursuing

Ferdinand and Isabella had it right when they splurged on the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Thomas Jefferson decided 300 years of not knowing what North America contained was long enough. He sent Lewis and Clark to find out what was on the left side of our continent. Most recently, John Kennedy stood before the American people in 1961 and declared that we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. He didn’t get to see Neil Armstrong’s small step, but he was the right leader to set a colossal goal and enable mankind’s great leap.

The Columbia tragedy reminds us of the true cost of mankind’s quest to know what lies beyond. As we have heard over the past two weeks, each of those crew members would have wanted us to continue to do big things, to expand our reach. But what are the Big Things we should be pursuing? Space exploration is certainly part of the mix. What wonders might the rest of the solar system hold for us? That is one quest we should continue.