Probably not, but their numbers sure are diminishing throughout the industry, causing concern among experts. This may be because the space industry is not focusing on reaching one arena critical to our future--our youth.
(Space.com) Throughout the meeting, many speakers talked about the need to educate the future workforce for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The President's vision of going back to the Moon and on to Mars requires that an ever-increasing number of Americans choose STEM careers, and do the hard work to achieve college degrees in STEM subjects. Likewise, the 2005 "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Future" and resulting American Competitiveness Initiative both call for action aimed at producing better educated, technologically savvy workforce in order to assure US economic leadership and security. Yet, several speakers noted that the number of American students completing STEM majors in college is decreasing.
If we are going to ever colonize our neighboring moon and planets, then we have to transfer that desire to the upcoming generation. Today's children will probably be tomorrow's colonists, and if we are unable to move the culture focus from MySpace to outer space, then NASA's bold objectives (along with the private sector) will all be in vain.
Want more space geek news? Then subscribe below via email, RSS or twitter for free updates! Prefer another service? How about via RSS or follow Colony Worlds on Twitter!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You can either visit the stars or watch them from afar.
But if you choose the former, you'll definitely get a better view.
~Darnell Clayton, 2007
Note: You do not need a Blogger account in order to comment, but you do need to solve the universal puzzle below.