That's One Small Step for Fragile Oasis...
July 20, 2011
Originally posted July 20, 2010
On July 20th 1969, at the age of seven, I attended my great-grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration in a banquet hall in Yonkers, NY. My great-grandparents emigrated from Russia to America many years earlier. Late in the evening (late for a seven-year old boy), all the guests gathered around a black and white TV and watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the first footprints on the Moon.
Watching that historic moment is one of my most vivid childhood memories. That night, that 7-year-old boy knew with certainty that he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. On July 20th, 2000, 31 years to the day after the historic Moon landing, that boy and sixteen other members of the Astronaut Class of 2000 received phone calls from the Chief of the Astronaut Office, Charlie Precourt, informing them of their selection as NASA astronauts.
Since July 20th is such a significant day, I think it’s very fitting that the Fragile Oasis Team has chosen July 20th 2010 to launch the first step in what I believe will be a very informative, useful, and important interactive website. Fragile Oasis has these goals:
• Get the word out that the International Space Station is an incredible global asset
• Highlight the scientific advancements being accomplished on the International Space Station
• Inspire students to academic excellence
• Allow people to “experience” living and working in space vicariously through crew members currently living on the International Space Station
• Use the unique orbital perspective to inspire people to improve life on our planet
This blog is just the first step. Presently I am using it to document and share my “Road to the Launch Pad,” and after launching to the International Space Station, I will use it to document and share the experience of living and working in Space. What will set Fragile Oasis apart from other “Space” websites is its focus on life on Earth, including interactive mapping that highlights Crew Members who are working to make life better on our planet through humanitarian projects or scientific research. A Crew Member is our name for members of the Fragile Oasis community.
I look forward to watching the Fragile Oasis vision take shape over the next few months and I am also looking forward to interacting with everyone during my mission onboard the International Space Station. Please stay tuned….
Please join with people all over the planet who look for opportunities to better their community and world, and as a result, make life better for those with whom they share this Fragile Oasis.
Other posts by this author
- To Be Continued ...
- One Young World Summit - The Key Is We
- Moonshot
- Why Should We Spend Money on Space Exploration When We Have So Many Problems Here on Earth?
- Guardians of Earth
- Do 1 Thing Day - July 20, 2012
- The Orbital Perspective of Nicholas Kristof
- An Invitation to Participate in the International Space Apps Challenge
- LAUNCHing Ideas for a Waste-less Tomorrow
- We Get to Carry Each Other
July 21, 2011
Linda C.
Happy First B-Day !!! THX, for allowing me to be part of this amazing and wonderful Project :) I <3 Planet Earth !!!
July 23, 2011
Jasmine S.
This post had me crying. I knew from early on that I wanted to be an astronaut too. It has always been my greatest dream. However, it is unlikely I'd have that dream come true, but I marvel at what astronauts do. I marvel at Space. I hope to work for a space agency some day. CONGRATULATIONS Sir, for having your dream come true :)
Oct. 1, 2011
Astro Ron, en Valparaiso (Chile). más de 6000 personas sin agua potable. ¿Me darías algún consejo para ofrecer a estas personas. ¿cómo no tienen pozos o canales?. Es horrible ¿cómo vivir sin agua?. Hace falta alguien que les dirija en algún plan urgente de abastecimiento de agua. ¿Alguna idea?