A dream is a funny thing. Most of them come to us in the night and are as fleeting as a shooting star. But the ones that come to us in our waking hours, those are the ones that can inspire us and move us to great heights.
The power of a dream is one thing, but we have to have the courage to stick by it. As I write this, I am thinking about the Ansari X Prize and the dream to explore space. For some it isn't enough to read about it. For some it isn't enough to see it through a telescope or the camera of a Mars Rover. For some the dream of traveling among the cosmos is so enticing that now isn't soon enough. The Ansari X Prize began humbly but became a $10 million prize for the first team to put three people in space and make two flights in two weeks.
English: Dr. Martin Luther King giving his "I Have...
Martin Luther King leaning on a lectern. Deutsch: ...
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Rev. Dr. Martin Lu...It is about passion. Passion and dreams are what have moved people to bring the prize into existence and what brought teams from around the world to compete. Competition. Competition is what allows us to measure ourselves against others. It is an important reality check. It doesn't mean that I have to run neck and neck with someone. Rather, it means that I know how well others have done, so that I may measure my own performance.
And so not too long ago Spaceship One punctured the atmosphere twice in two weeks setting the benchmark for those to follow and winning the prize. For the next few years there is to be a yearly gathering as each team refines its methods in an effort to reach the stars and top the accomplishments of the others. There is no saying just why so...