An Open Letter to the President and the People of the United States

To the President of the United States and its People:

It was nearly two years ago when a new era of hope seemed to be dawning on the United States and the world. Now it seems that those hopes have been at least partially dashed.  

Hope, faith, trust, inspiration, new beginnings, and broader vistas were some of the themes that swept President Obama into power. Now, hesitancy, confusion, distance, repetition, reluctance of all kinds, and a meagreness of spirit seem to infect the White House and the Nation. Luckily all this can change.

Positive change sometimes means doing the counter-intuitive thing.

And today it would certainly seem counter-intuitive to talk about a new, bold space vision when everything here on Earth seems going to hell in a hand-basket.

But that is exactly what I'm going to talk about: A vision, a dream, a concrete destination.

The world's people are not tired, not finished with dreaming, not weary of work, not disillusioned with life and the promise of the future, but increasingly it seems that it is their leaders who are thus and thus nothing is done and that in the name of the 'people'.

Well, I, as just one of those little people believe that if this President and great nation wish to lead they must move in front and attempt bold, positive steps towards the unknown.

I believe it is time the the United States declare an aggressively international space goal of sending a multi-probe mission to the Jovian satellite of Europa which has long been suspected of harboring an underwater ocean and possible cryogenic under-water volcanoes theoretically capable of supporting life as we know it. The multiple missions should be international (the Russians, the Chinese, the EU) and should be carried out in a spirit of a new world order that understands what Thomas Paine once said: "That if we do not hang together then we surely will all hang separately."

Now is not the time to cringe, nor to cry, nor to give in to self-pity saying "I tried, you can't, so we won't". No--it is time to stand out in front with a real proposal that ties all those things promised in a now seemingly distant electoral campaign: A vision, a goal, cooperation among nations, and the advancement of science, knowledge, and the future well-being of all the peoples of the earth through the unexpected economic/social spin-offs of advanced space exploration.

Go for it! Now!