Pioneering

Thanks to clearing out some of the clutter, I realized about two weeks ago that I hadn't yet tackled Robert Heinlein's Time Enough for Love  even though it's been in my library for over a year. Launching off on the book, I found myself about half way through it today on my way back north.

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport

Heinlein's books affect me by both engaging my imagination and prompting me to look at the world through a slightly different lens than my habitual assumptions. This one causes me to think about the profession of pioneering with a sense of both longing and adventure.

There are still areas left to explore here on earth, but pioneering, the profession of exploring, taming, settling, and scraping out a living making an untamed wild more habitable for humans seems just out of reach. I'm not sure if that assumption is true, but it sure feels like it.

The last great terrestrial area to make an attempt to habitate rests on the floor of the world's oceans. For other pioneering entrepids, looking to the stars seems like the next logical leap.

I believe the world is ready for the next great challenge, and visionaries like Elon Musk and Richard Branson seem to be making a go of it. 

Sunset - College Creek

Walking distances has proven to be marginally effective at scratching my natural nomadic itch, but the opportunity to work with others to colonize the moon in my lifetime seems like a better outlet. That kind of pioneering would not necessarily be a one way trip like some of the more ambitious interplanetary goals will likely end up being, and a base on the moon outside of the earth's gravity well seem like the next logical step.

The moon is a compelling target, and it offers plenty of chances to hone our space pioneering with reasonable odds of success. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and moving one more step closer to the destiny that's calling out from above.