"The Dream"?

[wvbraun]

When americans talk about space/spaceflight they often refer to "the dream" (e.g. "The dream is alive"). Where did this term originate and what precisely does it mean (in this context)? Is there any connection to the "american dream"?

 

[wvbraun]

Anyone?

 

[vogon13]

Challenger Society (Foundation?) used it a lot in their materials circa 1986/7/8, for obvious reasons.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[spayss]

Not really. The USA is made up of 280 million people. Black dishwashers not allowed to have their own children swim in the community pool had a different dream from Miss prissy debutante trying out for the cheerleading squad at the all-white school. <br /><br /> Today? No different. Millions live in a zombie-like state and their idea of a dream is a special on burgers at Fat Burger and a short line up at the cashiers at Walmart. Others (tens of millions) dream of a Christian society carrying the word of the Lord...others for their team to win the Superbowl (don't ask me why). Others, Latinos with a dream to work their up to an affluent life and others' dreams to kick those same Latinos out of the country.<br /><br /> Space would be non-existant as a major dream in the poplular polls...well below the dream of watching a new season of American Idol or watching Martha Stewart decorate a pumpkin for Hallowe'en.

 

[rocketwatcher2001]

<font color="yellow">Today? No different. </font><br /><br />It is very different, or maybe we just live in different worlds. Have you ever been to OshKosh? Sun and Fun? I doubt it. I know that this country is full of dreamers that are willing to work their fingers to the bone in their garages while they build their own dreams out of aluminum and Kevlar. You may have a piss-poor opinion of Americans, but I've got the utmost respect for my friends and neighbors. I know what they can accomplish, and more importantly, what they actually do accomplish, and it's pretty impressive. <br /><br /> Did you know that there are more pilots within the 100 miles surrounding my house than in all of Europe? Sure, it takes brains to be a pilot, but it takes a little more also, it takes having that "Dream", and a million words wouldn't come close to explaining it to someone who doesn't "get" it. <br /><br />*EDIT*<br />If it sounds like I'm picking on Europeans unfairly, than I apologise. I know quite a few Europeans who also have the "Dream", sadly, in most parts of the world the freedom to prusue the dream is too expensive for all but the elite. In the U.S. a great example of just how porous the line of elitism is, just go to a Lowes or a Home Depot on a Saturday morning. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[spayss]

How many people are building their own planes? Most Americans? Oshkosh has a plane in every garage? I bet it's not even 'the dream' in Oshkosh. Most women is Oshkosh build their own planes...ya, sure.<br /> Everyone is different and everyone has their own dream. 'The American Dream' never existed except in the minds of those who believed that Mayberry, North Carolina truly did represent small town America... the only town in the state with no 'Negroes' or Muslims or Jews or Latinos and women all baked pies or were school teachers or librarians.<br /><br /> The dream of millions of Americans was to be able to use the public water fountain or to be able to attend a synagogue without being harassed by the KKK.

 

[rocketwatcher2001]

Are you saying that there are no "Negroes"'or Muslims or Jews or Latinos at Oshkosh? That they are somehow excluded from "The Dream"? Maybe you want to say that the only thing that a woman should do at Sun and Fun is bake a pie, is that it?<br /><br /><br />What a load of organic compost.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[wvbraun]

spayss<br /><br />Please stay out of this thread unless you want to contribute something of value.

 

[mariecurie]

JFK had fired up our imaginations with talk of going to the moon in several speeches and was associated with the dream of conquering outer space.<br />I thought "The Dream is Alive" was in a speech by him so I searched for several hours, only to have my illusions about the man dashed on rocks here:<br />http://space.com/news/kennedy_tapes_010822.html<br />Maybe he did say that, but I have searched all I am going to now. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><font color="black"><br />"We choose to go to the Moon and to do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"….John F. Kennedy<br /></font>

 

[dobbins]

Kennedy was a hyper-competitive individual who had just lost twice to the Soviets when he made the Moon Speech. Vostok 1 and the Bay of Pigs happened shortly before that speech, and JFK was more interested in some stunt the Russians couldn't top than in any true commitment to space. If he could have found some stunt here on Earth that promised as much publicity he would have opted for that instead of the Moon.<br /><br />Lyndon Johnson is the one that pushed for the Moonshot as the big stunt. LBJ certainly wasn't one of my favorite Presidents, but I'll give him credit for one thing, he is the one President who truly had a space vision. LBJ is the man who pushed the creation of NASA through the Senate before he became Vice-President. He is the person who elevated NASA's status from just being a the Space Agency in Ike's space bill to being the Space Administration in the version that passed in 1958, an important distinction inside the beltway that gave NASA more clout. LBJ is the one that used the Kennedy Vision BS to keep the bucks flowing for the space program in the 1960s, and managed to avoid any cutbacks in NASA's budget until he was a politically wounded lame duck. It isn't just chance that NASA's first big cut came in FY 1968 when funding for the second block of Saturn V rockets that were at the core of NASA's plans for the 70s was rejected.<br /><br />JFK gets all the credit, but LBJ was the man who was the best friend NASA ever had in the White House.<br />

 

[propforce]

The dream of going to the stars and beyone to explore. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[spacester]

The dream of the ages of course: To Go There<br /><br />We are the generation that can do it.<br /><br />Which is why I've never liked NASA's "Keep the Dream Alive" - it ought to be "Achieve the Dream"<br /><br />Keep it Alive? Does that mean to stretch the process out as long as possible? Seems that way sometimes to me. <br /><br />As I've long said, it's the difference between technology development and technology deployment. That's the fundamental change NASA needs to make.<br /><br />IMO Griffin gets all that, the first since Webb as far as I can tell, so I'm 100% behind Griffin.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[spacester]

(BTW, no connection with "The American Dream" AFAIK. That is all about the ability of our society to allow the poor and downtrodden to achieve any level of social status, emphasis on "achieve". The 3 bedroom house with 2.3 kids and a dog in the peaceful suburbs can be yours thru hard work and good citizenship. Which btw has been almost completely removed from our society by the rich elite: just ask any mid-20s American with middle class or lower background.)<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dobbins]

Don't underestimate LBJ's power as President for most of his term. When he was in the Senate he was a master at punishing Senators that didn't vote the way he wanted them to vote by making sure that projects in their states got killed before they could even come up for a vote. He used that talent when he was President by making sure that Senators and Congressmen who voted the "wrong" way got punished by actions from the executive branch.<br /><br />