The air just begins to cool, and the tide of young voices rises. It is fall, paradoxically the season of renewal in academia. Here at the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, we just celebrated our first half century and then some. And what a time it has been. All of the planets and their principal satellites have been visited by spacecraft, and samples returned for laboratory analyses from the Moon, asteroids and comets. Great observatories have been lofted to orbit and beyond, revealing across many wavelengths a vast and perplexing universe. From the ground, infant protoplanetary systems have been detailed, and ripples in the very fabric of spacetime detected.

I could go on, but the point is that the past 50 years has been absolutely revolutionary for the space sciences (and science in general), and the work at the Center has been at the heart of much of it. Revolutions are often destabilizing, in science and in life, but there is much promise for revolutionary advances in the space sciences over the next 50 years as well. The study of extrasolar planets is just emerging from its cocoon, but with existing and planned telescopes, abetted by theoretical and laboratory advances, the prospects for astonishing discoveries are self-evident. And who knows, I will even make a prediction that this coming epoch will reveal for the first time an inhabited world beyond our own.

The McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences was founded on the premise that space exploration was a symbol of the 20th century, vital for our national prosperity, security, and well-being, and as the United States was determined to lead in this arena, Washington University and St. Louis would play important, key roles in this national and ultimately, international effort. But the ground beneath our feet is shifting. Perhaps the golden era of space exploration is drawing to a close, and being replaced by a more commercial and/or exploitive one. It is too early to tell, but even if, as is likely, boots will again disturb the lunar regolith, science will play a key role in such endeavors.

All of science in the United States, not just space science, faces a gathering storm as federal funding and research priorities are being reduced and reordered. The results will have world-historical consequences. I will have more to say about this in the future, especially as so much remains uncertain, but it seems clear to me that the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences has an important (maybe even unique) role to play in preserving, protecting, and advancing, within an academic setting, this remarkable frontier of human achievement. Space exploration writ large is embedded now in the DNA of America and the world at large, and offers a vision of wisdom, hope, and transcendence for the future. To the next 50 years!

MCSS 50th Anniversary Celebration Video