More than 40 years ago, we were shooting for the moon. The culmination of that dream in 1969 remains an incredible human achievement.
Decades later, we're looking to go beyond that. Last weekend, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory landed Curiosity, a robotic rover, on the surface of Mars. Successfully landing the rover - the largest robot sent to Mars - is a remarkable achievement. Not all the Mars missions have been successful, but humans have a great ability to learn from our mistakes, to improve and to excel. The jubilation at mission control when the rover touched down was a fine celebration of a gold-medal finish.
Back here on Earth, we've spent the past two weeks similarly slack-jawed at the feats of human physical prowess on display at the London Olympics. We have admired the athletes whose years of training and mental discipline have allowed them to push the limits of physical achievement.
Both the Olympics and NASA's space program represent ideals that will have little impact on most people's lives. They tap the elites in their fields to achieve goals that are far removed from the everyday world. There are those who question their worth when more serious concerns await both our attention and our scarce resources. But what price should we set on human achievement?
The Olympics and space program both expand our world in intangible ways. They give us greatness to aspire to. As one commentator put it, there are lots of examples of the depth to which humanity can sink. Let's take a moment to celebrate the heights to which we can climb.
