Today is 15th May, 1973. Tuesday.
I am sitting in the canteen of Physics Department, at Government College Lahore. This is my regular spot in the University not just because the chai here is famous but it is a good place to meet students from other departments.
Today, I am here to see Dr. Abdus Salam. I have been told that he is visiting our department and since he is also a big fan of doodh patti so in all likelihood, I have a solid chance of catching him here. Dr. Abdus Salam is a world renowned Physicist and also happens to be an alumni of Government College Lahore. Three years ago, I attended a talk given by Dr. Salam. The lecture was arranged by Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, which is Pakistan's version of NASA, and during the lecture Dr. Salam shared his vision of "future of space science." It was a short talk with lot of interesting details and prediction but back then all of his predictions seemed dubious. He had predicted that that US will put "world's first space station in orbit within next 5 years." I was very skeptical about Dr. Salam's prediction that US (or USSR) will be able to put a space station in orbit within 5 years but last night, in the 9 PM khabar nama on PTV News I was really baffled to see the images of world's first space station called "Sky Lab." And as predicted, it was launched by the United States of America!
Putting a space station in Earth's orbit is a remarkable feat. Unlike any satellite, "Sky Lab" can house humans for many weeks! This space station, according to the news, weighs about 80,000 kilograms and would orbit our planet once every 90 minutes! I am so glad that we, humans, have finally done it! I know this is just the start and we have a long way to go and that makes me really excited!
Almost a little more than a decades ago, going to space was not possible in the wildest dreams of even the most adventurous but today it is very much a reality. I still remember reading the newspaper that carried the headline: "Sputnik 1: The First Man Made Object In Space." Sputnik was put in space in 1957 by USSR and in a short span of next 5 years, they were able to send first living thing in space, first man in space and first woman in space! But it took humans almost 12 years from Sputnik 1 to truly conquer "a new world." I am talking about the single most important even of 1960s, when, on the 20th July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the surface of moon! It was for the first time ever in our entire history that a human was setting foot on another planet, and it was surely "a one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
It took us almost 15 years from Sputnik to Apollo to Sky Lab.
Now imagine 15 years into the future. Year 1988 A.D. I am sure that we will have new space rockets, much faster and a lot more safe for human travel. We will have many satellites orbiting earth and of course, we will also have many space stations (much bigger and better) hundreds of miles above earth. Humans will explore moon, have hundreds of lunar mission and probably a base on the moon!
Now imagine 30 years into the future! A totally different world. Year 2003 A.D. See, even the digits that represent the year are completely different. No more "1900s", it will be "2000s." In next 30 years, it is very much possible that the space stations will be our "future holiday destinations". People will go up to spend a week or even a month in the orbit. It will have a permanent base (or bases) on moon that will house many people and "space vehicles" to explore the lunar surface. I also think that we will have human missions to planet Mars. We will also send satellites and robots to many other planets for exploration.
I can go on and speculate about the future of space science but I know, that the only thing certain about future is the uncertainty of future.
I think that's Dr. Salam entering the canteen. Better go now.
