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Cosmic Rendezvous: An Evening Among the Stars Gala 2003

Sean O'Keefe
Former NASA Administrator

Thank you Miles (CNN Anchorman Miles O'Brien) for that wonderful introduction and good evening ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of the dedicated men and women of NASA, please let me express how deeply honored I am to speak at this gala event.

I must also say that I'm truly humbled to be in the presence of the remarkable people who created and nurtured this national treasure, Challenger Center for Space Science Education.

President Bush has expressed his aspirations for the education of our Nation's youth with simple but profound hope that we leave no child behind. Through the 48 Challenger Learning Centers across the country, every year several hundred thousand young boys and girls, our future generation of explorers, are not only not being left behind, they are being swept up in amazing learning adventures that are helping to spark their passion for exploration and discovery.

Engaged by classroom simulations of daring space missions, and unique distance learning opportunities that bring students in direct contact with NASA scientists and astronauts, your children are going to bed tonight dreaming that they may grow up to be heroes the caliber of Apollo One, Challenger, and Columbia astronauts.

I should add that not a day goes by in which we at NASA do not miss the incredible spirit of these astronauts. Not a single day. We will never forget our fallen astronaut heroes. Through the living memorial of the Challenger Centers and through our unceasing quest to explore the heavens, we will always strive to honor their tremendous legacy.

Tonight, it is fitting that this special event is being held during a month people throughout the land are celebrating the blessings of the harvest season. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of people who staff and support the Challenger Centers, we are planting millions of seeds of life across America, watching them grow straight and tall, knowing that in a few years our country and the world will benefit from the joyful efforts of our next generation of explorers to carry on the torch of exploration throughout the solar system. Speaking of this ongoing adventure, in January, our Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, named by Sofi Collis, an eight year-old girl from Arizona who grew up in an orphanage in Siberia, will land on the surface of the planet. There, Spirit and Opportunity will search for signs of free flowing water in Mars and its past. I know that students in Challenger Centers will be eagerly following the progress of Spirit and Opportunity via television and the internet as they traverse the Martian surface, scouting the landscape that one of those young people may eventually explore in person.

Now three weeks ago, NASA celebrated its 45th birthday, an event Miles was thoughtful of to highlight to his CNN audience. By conventional thinking, turning 45 makes us a middle-aged Baby Boomer of sorts. But given our compelling mission goals of understanding and protecting the home planet, exploring the vast Universe, searching for life, and working with groups like Challenger Center to inspire that next generation of explorers, we will always be young and ever mindful that for all our astounding accomplishments, there will always be new frontiers to conquer.

The spirit in which NASA and the Challenger Centers approach the future was once expressed by another youthful spirit, President John F. Kennedy, when he spoke at the dedication of Antonio's Aerospace Medical Health Center on November 21, 1963. This was President Kennedy's last public speech, as the next day he was felled by an assassin's bullet.

Addressing the subject of our infant space program, President Kennedy relayed a story to the Irish writer Frank O'Connor. I think this story defines what this night is all about. "O'Connor wrote how as a boy he and his friends would make their way across the countryside," said the President. "When they came to an orchard wall that seemed too high and too doubtful to traverse, too difficult to permit their voyage to continue, they took of their hats and tossed them over the wall-and then they had no choice but to follow them."

The President concluded by saying, "This Nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it. Whatever the difficulties, they will be overcome. Whatever the hazards, they must be guarded against. With the help of all those who labor in the space science endeavor, with the help and support of all Americans, we will climb this wall with safety and speed-and we shall then explore the wonders on the other side."

Friends, this night is about giving our next generation of explorers a boost up as they toss their caps over the wall of space and seek to explore the wonders on the other side. We are just in the infancy of a great adventure without end. I thank everyone here tonight for your interest in the outstanding work of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and for the opportunity to be a part of this tremendous gala. Thank you and good evening.

October 24, 2003
Westin Galleria, Houston, Texas

Additional Information

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