Editor, Times-Union: I watched with great admiration and appreciation as NASA launched its final space shuttle, Atlantis, and then as the crew returned her safely home with perfect precision. There was not a glitch.
As I watched the employees at Mission Control do their job, it was very apparent that there was not a stone unturned. Every base was covered. I heard it said over again this was because they work together as a team with a common goal of bringing their crew home safe. I heard it publicly stated that they learned from their mistakes; then worked until the mistakes were corrected, referring specifically to the Challenger and Columbia disasters. I also heard one NASA director say there was not the needed team effort in these launches. The director did not hesitate to take the blame on himself – that the mistakes that happened under his watch would not happen again.
As I watched the employees from the flight engineers down to the janitors work, I did not see anyone who was not committed to their job. I watched as directors said this is what makes NASA – commitment and dedication. Even when the crew was asleep on board the shuttle, the staff at the Center was still making sure their jobs were done so that the next shift could do their jobs. This continued day in and day out until the shuttle and her crew were safely home. I sat back and said, “Wow, this is the kind of agency I want to work for – even if it is the government!”
I write this passionately because I have seen firsthand how many in our Congress work. I worked on Capitol Hill with fellow staff members who ignored their phone when it rang or told the intern to get it. When the intern promptly told the staffer they had an important call, the staffer (who many times was playing paper wad football into the closest trash can) promptly said take a message. This happened day in and day out. During a scavenger hunt which was for the purpose of “team” building on the Hill, I stopped to help a teammate who was from Germany and was not as familiar with English. I was scoffed for slowing everyone else down to help the one.
I saw in Congress a lazy mentality, a lack of pride and dedication. I see this in our work-a-day world today as well. I think it is a great reason we have our debt crisis. As Americans we are not always going to agree with each other, but whatever happened to taking pride in our work, respecting each other and being committed and dedicated? As Abraham Lincoln said, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
There is no “I” in team and there was no “I” in any of the work that NASA has done over the last several years. Precision, commitment, dedication. This is what our Congress and our country needs today to bring this ship called America safely home.
