Space Education & Strategic Applications Volume 1, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 12

Space Education and Strategic Applications Journal
ing process. While sequestered in our homes, we were forced to slow down and
appreciate life, our families, and our friends. We became extremely creative by
continuing to communicate in new ways, run our businesses by using delivery and
pick-up services, holding online classes and virtual graduations for students, and
allowing employees to work from home. We have not surrendered to this virus
and will not allow it to squelch the human spirit nor our newfound creative spark.
As if a pandemic wasn’t enough, on May 25 th , the unjustified murder of
George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died with his neck under the knee of a
white law enforcement officer in a horrific, caught-on-tape incident. The world
watched the tape over and over again in disbelief rhetorically and emotionally
asking why? This is a pandemic of a different kind. We learned the depth with
which racism, inequality, and discrimination is embedded in our everyday lives.
Whether “asymptomatic” or “symptomatic” this disease is long overdue for the
development of a vaccine and was poised to surge in numbers. The response to
this particular pandemic has been different to the COVID-19 response. Significant
changes around laws are occurring across the country such as removing clauses
that protect officers with prior disciplinary records, changes in HR training, curricula
modifications in LE academic programs. Most importantly, it’s prompted
something long overdue–deep and perhaps uncomfortable conversations between
blacks and whites. We are definitely a different nation since May 25 th .
Five days later, on May 30 th , 3:22 pm, our emotional roller coaster took another
swift turn–finally, in a positive way. Although we were encouraged not to
attend physically, another event renewed our excitement and sense of community.
Space made history by returning to the launchpad with NASA and SpaceX’s spaceship
Crew Dragon, the first commercial spacecraft to launch American astronauts,
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into Earth’s orbit. This event represented the indestructible
immunity and “superhuman” resilience to global disasters of any kind.
Rather than wasting narrative describing the event, I encourage you to view the
images capturing the incredible story leading up to this historic launch in the article,
“Images Capturing the Historic SpaceX Demo-2 Launch.” As prefaced in the
article, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
The military, education, industry, and civilian sectors are partnering to further
space initiatives. We also hope the incredible work our authors share with us
to share with you, also keeps our sense of community growing and thriving.
Melissa Layne, Ed.D.
Editor-in-Chief, SESA
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