Q. What do people around the world expect to see in space exploration programs?
I don't think that the people of the world very much recognize yet the U.S. decision, followed by many other countries, to resume exploration beyond Earth orbit. And I think that's a problem. I mean, when we went to the moon in 1969 to 1972, 40 years ago, that was exciting and new. That hadn't been done before. Now there have been all the movies and all the video games, which substitute for reality, I think, in many young people's minds. They think the Star Wars movies are real and Star Trek is real. And so I don't think there's quite the same excitement about going back to the moon as there was the first time, and that's understandable. But I think as we get ready to send the first humans to Mars, I think we'll get very excited about that and very interested. That's long-term. In my own view it's probably 25 years, more or less, before we're ready to send people to Mars. But, I think people will get excited by the notion that there are humans traveling those great distances.
If there's an industrial build-up on the moon of some small character, looking up at the moon at night and seeing lights up there, seeing the evidence of human activity, of people living on our satellite, I think that will be exciting to people. So this will take time, but I think in the long run the people of the world will view space exploration as one of the great adventures of human history.
Q. With your experience on committees at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the Planetary Society, we would like to have your advice on what we should do to encourage the general public's interest in space exploration projects.
I think that it is difficult to communicate on a day-by-day basis to people who have many other concerns besides what's going on in space. And, I don't think you can sustain a program on the basis of continuing public engagement. So I think the idea that the people should be involved all the time sounds very good, but I think it's really up to the leadership of society to do these things on behalf of society, to communicate the benefits, to develop the understanding of the benefits, and rather than letting public opinion be the controlling factor, make it something that you bring along with you as you do these exciting cutting edge things.
So, I think that some of the things that JAXA is doing, as I understand it, in terms of education, of public outreach, of your science museum here in Tokyo, I think there's an impressive element of communicating to the public, and letting the public know what's going on in space, and being in general sensitive to public feedback. But the idea that you need to engage the public almost on a day-by-day basis, and seek their guidance on what to do, I think that's not the right way to go forward.
Q. How did you develop your interest in space?
I was always interested in astronomy, in looking at the sky. But I'm one of the few people who've made a career in the space area who didn't read much science fiction. I was also a big baseball fan, and so the night that Sputnik was launched, October 4, 1957, I was in school in Chicago and the team just to the north, the Milwaukee baseball team, won the World Series. So I paid no attention to space. I went to the party celebrating the end of the World Series. I don't remember Sputnik very well. I don't remember Kennedy's speech sending the United States to the moon. I came to a direct involvement in space in my twenties, and not from childhood interest in it.
Why did I become to be interested in space? Because exploring space is exciting. The first launch I went to was the launch of Apollo 11. I got up in the morning and watched these three guys walk by me on the way to the moon. What could be better than that? To have the chance to do that? I know those people now very well. But to have shared in that adventure and all the things that we've done I've had the chance to work with the leadership of the space agencies of the world, not just the United States. This is an exciting area of human activity, and the chance to spend a career working on it, I think, is almost a gift.
Q. What is your personal dream in space development?
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, part of my dream has already come real. I saw people go to the moon. Unfortunately, the generation after me has not had the chance to see anybody go anywhere, except in circles around the Earth, which is neat but not really that exciting. So, I think the fact that the next generations are going to see people once again resume space exploration excites me.
I hope I'm still here to see people return to the moon. I don't expect to still be around when the first people walk on Mars, but my children and my grandchildren will be and, and that's a nice heritage.
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