Last Thursday I enjoyed an inspirational speech by USAF Lieutenant Colonel Duane “Digger” Carey – a Saint Paul guy like me, but one who went far further than possibly any other from our home city. Digger was invited by the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology to speak about his experiences as pilot of the Columbia Space Shuttle mission of March 1-12, 2002,* that successfully upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope.**
Although Digger has many stories to tell, not the least of which is his record as a combat fighter pilot, he is most passionate about the benefits of math and science. He feels that his Masters in Aeronautical Engineering, while not directly relevant to flying a jet, enabled him to solve mission-critical problems at afterburner speed.
It was great seeing a hero like Digger Carey talk up math and science to our young people. I recall taking a summer physics camp and working out the equations for rocketry while building a model of the Saturn V. At the end of the course we blasted it off with 5 solid-propellant engines. Unfortunately it went way up and out of sight, so we never recovered the parachuted parts that floated somewhere back to Earth. However, even if we’d found the rocket, there would be no way to recapture the joy of seeing math and science put into action on that first launch. Anyways, that was enough for me. Imagine actually being inside a rocket blasting off! That takes a lot of courage and faith in technology.
“The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance science, math and technology education.”
— John Glenn, one of NASA’s original astronauts
* The last mission before the disaster of 2003
**See these spectacular new images from Hubble produced by the space telescope after the latest (and likely last) upgrade made by Shuttle Discovery astronauts who just landed Friday.