the progression of the frontier
we went to the moon, and this is what happened to america
Neil Degrasse tyson- we stopped dreaming
Summary
Neil DeGrasse Tyson begins the episode by reflecting on space, and how relatively little economic support the government provides to the space program. Tyson claims that the idea of discovery, exploration, and curiosity drives nation to research and send humans into space. He claims that it "empowers nations." He explains the significance of that tiny bit of attention provided by the government by reflecting on the extremely popular success of the Apollo 8 in 1968 where the U.S. sent the second manned spaceship to orbit the moon. There, the famous and iconic "earth rise" photograph was taken (see photograph on the left), and Tyson claims that this photo was responsible for igniting an environmental revolution in the U.S. For the first time, Americans and the entire world had the privilege of witnessing Earth as "nature intended it to be viewed." There were no color coded countries, or boundaries, or labels. Just mountains, land, sea, and clouds. Despite the turmoil of the 1970s-- Vietnam, college riots, many others-- the U.S. found time to pass environmental legislatures: the comprehensive Clean Air Act, Earth Day (born 1970), Environmental Protection Agency, Doctors without Borders, DDT was banned in 1972, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. Tyson boldly claims, "That is space operating on our culture, and you cannot put a price on it.That is a nation, that is a world, reacting to a new perspective on what it is to be alive on this planet that we all share." He claims that our nation's ambition are directly related to space travel and research sponsored by NASA, and if these research missions are ended, the nation will lose all of it's ambition.
Connection to the Thesis
This artifact connects to the thesis statement because it explains how various space efforts to push the physical frontier into space (beginning with the Apollo 8 mission in 1968) were fueled by the nation's curiosity and need to explore and discover, and explained the impact that such a landmark achievement (the "Earth rise" photograph) had on American society. Tyson claimed that the health of a space discovery and exploration program is directly linked to the nations ambition, and it is crucial that Americans continue to explore. The "Earth rise" photograph helped ignite a nation-wide revolutionary movement towards the preservation of the environment, despite the international turmoil occurring in Vietnam and the domestic events such as campus riots. Essentially, the product of the advancement of the physical frontier (the "Earth rise photograph") resulted in the beginning of a movement to preserve the environment, as many Americans, for the first time ever, saw their planet as the way it really was, not with countries, color-coded regions, or borders, but as a whole, cohesive object that must be preserved.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson begins the episode by reflecting on space, and how relatively little economic support the government provides to the space program. Tyson claims that the idea of discovery, exploration, and curiosity drives nation to research and send humans into space. He claims that it "empowers nations." He explains the significance of that tiny bit of attention provided by the government by reflecting on the extremely popular success of the Apollo 8 in 1968 where the U.S. sent the second manned spaceship to orbit the moon. There, the famous and iconic "earth rise" photograph was taken (see photograph on the left), and Tyson claims that this photo was responsible for igniting an environmental revolution in the U.S. For the first time, Americans and the entire world had the privilege of witnessing Earth as "nature intended it to be viewed." There were no color coded countries, or boundaries, or labels. Just mountains, land, sea, and clouds. Despite the turmoil of the 1970s-- Vietnam, college riots, many others-- the U.S. found time to pass environmental legislatures: the comprehensive Clean Air Act, Earth Day (born 1970), Environmental Protection Agency, Doctors without Borders, DDT was banned in 1972, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. Tyson boldly claims, "That is space operating on our culture, and you cannot put a price on it.That is a nation, that is a world, reacting to a new perspective on what it is to be alive on this planet that we all share." He claims that our nation's ambition are directly related to space travel and research sponsored by NASA, and if these research missions are ended, the nation will lose all of it's ambition.
Connection to the Thesis
This artifact connects to the thesis statement because it explains how various space efforts to push the physical frontier into space (beginning with the Apollo 8 mission in 1968) were fueled by the nation's curiosity and need to explore and discover, and explained the impact that such a landmark achievement (the "Earth rise" photograph) had on American society. Tyson claimed that the health of a space discovery and exploration program is directly linked to the nations ambition, and it is crucial that Americans continue to explore. The "Earth rise" photograph helped ignite a nation-wide revolutionary movement towards the preservation of the environment, despite the international turmoil occurring in Vietnam and the domestic events such as campus riots. Essentially, the product of the advancement of the physical frontier (the "Earth rise photograph") resulted in the beginning of a movement to preserve the environment, as many Americans, for the first time ever, saw their planet as the way it really was, not with countries, color-coded regions, or borders, but as a whole, cohesive object that must be preserved.