IN OUR PREOCCUPIED WORLD, NASA PROVES SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT IS THE BEST DISRUPTION
There are few mainstream government agencies that cultivate gadflies – and their pestering insistence on change – better than NASA.
By definition, a gadfly is countercultural and rebellious. They irritate the mainstream thinkers of their time. But the best gadflies in history also pushed the world forward, usually against its will, oftentimes kicking and screaming.
Frequently, scientific discovery has been the cornerstone of the gadfly way of life. In fact, some of history’s greatest gadflies based their irritation and rebellion on discoveries in astronomy.
Nicolaus Copernicus, a 16th century polymath, pushed back on thousands of years of established belief when he proposed the Earth orbited the Sun – rather than the other way around. A century later, Galileo was placed under house arrest for his discovery of some of Jupiter’s moons that supported Copernicus’ discoveries.
Around the same time, Johannes Kepler, perhaps the most influential gadfly in the history of astronomy, published his three laws describing planetary motion. His mathematical equations are so accurate in predicting planetary movements we still use them today. Then, of course, there was Sir Isaac Newton and his many contributions to astronomy and physics. Each individual upended established thought and changed the world in the process.
The field of astronomy has always been guided by gadflies, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the world’s leading space agency is full of them.
On April 10th, the agency gave history four more to remember.
Sure, these astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) – are highly-respected, mainstream members of major government agencies. Sure, the Artemis program is a thoroughly-planned and fully-approved mission to return people to the moon. And no, these astronauts are not rebels or irritants within their agencies or astronomy or any other scientific fields for that matter.
However, these astronauts and their many counterparts at their agencies are bonafide pains in the neck, pot-stirring aggravators – in the truest sense of what it means to be a gadfly – for our modern world.
While the rest of us were squabbling over politics, sports, or ideologies of various kinds, the Artemis II crew surprised us with a truly audacious spectacle: hurtling themselves deeper into space than any humans in history.
We had no choice but to stop and stare in unvarnished awe. Awe that they were taking us back to the moon. Awe that they were risking their lives for scientific discovery. Awe that they pulled this launch off right under our noses.
Suddenly, people across this country (and the world) remembered what it was like to dream, to believe we are capable of much more together, to feel inspired not just by election results, or sports team wins, or movie stars, but by legitimate human discovery of our world and its place in the universe.
Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen are modern day gadflies not because they challenged the scientific consensus – like Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton – but because they challenged our belief that life is all about smartphones, AI chatbots, and weight loss pills.
The craziest part of this mission – outside of the insane scientific and technological achievement – is that most people were caught off guard by it. I knew it was coming, eventually, but even I was surprised when I stumbled across the livestream details in my inbox. The thing is they had been planning this launch since 2018 – eight years ago!
For eight years, they have been telling us they were going to take us back to the Moon – and not just for a photo op, but to establish a permanent base. For eight years, the Artemis team carefully prepared for this launch without fanfare or praise or attention. For eight years, they made sure everything would be ready to send four human beings around the moon and back safely. And for eight years, the rest of us went about our lives not even thinking it was possible.
Thanks to these astronauts and their agencies, I’ve finally witnessed a successful moon mission in real time – like my parents did in the 60s and 70s. Even more importantly, my kids, who are 4 and 6 years old, witnessed it, too. And they will get to witness so much more throughout their childhood as the Artemis missions continue.
After all, gadflies are supposed to push for change to the status quo. Well, my kids will grow up believing in a different status quo than I did. I would say the people responsible for that change earned their wings. Bravo!
These astronauts have pushed us out of our comfort zones and into a new age of discovery. In doing so, they have joined a long legacy of astronomers and astronauts who have been gadflies to the limited thinking and actions of so many people stuck here on Earth.
By the end of the Artemis missions, we may just be the first beings in history to transition from an earth-bound existence to an extraterrestrial one. Coincidentally, we’ll also be the first beings to transition from believing the Earth is the center of the universe to watching the Earth move across the night sky from the surface of one of those celestial bodies.
Sometimes, gadflies don’t look like rebels or troublemakers. Sometimes, gadflies have multiple PhDs from prestigious universities, work for venerated government agencies, and move approved missions forward as planned, while the rest of us focus on the latest social media trends or tech updates.
In our preoccupied world, we are fixated on screens, rushing from one hustle to the next, scrolling through endless media feeds looking for the next “great” thing. In this world, we take scientific achievement for granted. In this world, we believe what is right in front of our face is what matters the most.
In a world like that, perhaps the most rebellious thing a person can do is go to the moon.