Bold blast to the New World

How fitting that on the week marking Christopher Columbus’ brave foray into the New World, Jeff Bezos is blasting his Blue Origin spaceship into the true final frontier — outer space. Making this launch particularly special is the mission’s special envoy: William Shatner, whose Captain Kirk character on “Star Trek” inspired billions the world over to marvel at the prospect of space travel.

Mr. Bezos and rival Elon Musk (with his SpaceX) have taken up the mantle of reinvigorating space flight through private means.

As visionary pioneers who have changed the face of human history, they are succeeding in space where others have failed, opening up the heavens in ways most never dared dream. Both men are driven by an exceedingly rare trait: indefatigable courage.

Courage to fight complacency, since, as the world’s wealthiest people, neither needed another paragraph on his epitaph. Courage to reject the “safe” rule of business where one’s reach never exceeds his grasp. Courage to understand that persistence may not always lead to success — but failure is a certainty if you give up.

As Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos continue to light the pipes and pull for the vertical, let us salute our world’s most prominent explorers who push “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

In May, 1963, the astronaut sitting atop the Mercury-Atlas rocket “went higher, farther, and faster than any other American…for a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen.” So were the ending words of “The Right Stuff,” the inspirational film which followed the brave exploits of America’s space pioneers, as chronicled in Tom Wolfe’s famous book of the same title.

Heroes they were: Chuck Yeager, Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong and all the others who volunteered to charge into the unknown, routinely working on projects that more often resembled suicide missions than scientific research. While they garnered glory and headlines, these men were deeply driven by something far more important: the opportunity to put America on top in the Space Race, and in doing so, become part of the most exciting time in history.

In addition to the lofty goals of exploring worlds beyond our own, the Space Race fostered something else: a fierce sense of nationalism that unleashed America’s competitive spirit as never before.

The United States still had its problems, of course, but there was never the slightest doubt that it would continue to achieve unparalleled greatness as the most benevolent nation the world had ever known.

From attaining civil rights for all its citizens to being the beacon of hope for oppressed peoples the world over — and yes, to push the envelope in space — America embodied the spirit that it would always be on an upward trajectory. Mediocrity, timidness — and fear itself — were not part of the American vocabulary, and dreams were simply visions soon to be realized.

But somewhere along the way, we lost that spirit.

And now we have a new adversary rising, challenging America at every turn. In addition to owning a substantial amount of our debt, China now possesses the fastest trains, the biggest dams, the most dynamic growth, and an aggressive space program.

That’s not an endorsement of the Chinese, but an angry lament that they have taken a page right out of America’s playbook, and worst of all, that this nation is paralyzed to counter it.

How pathetic that our leaders can’t put aside partisan politics for even a minute to agree on a no-brainer: a rejuvenated space program should be the centerpiece of American resolve.

Moving forward, private-sector space travel and exploration will be critical aspects of U.S. space policy. But they cannot accomplish everything. For that, the American government needs to once again step up to the plate and swing for the stars.

Bold space exploration needs to be paramount in our culture. Achieve that, and something far more important will occur: the indomitable American spirit would reawaken to nurture the aspirations of children gazing upon the moon and stars through their bedroom windows, with but one thought: “Someday, I’ll be up there.”

That’s not just the stuff of dreams. It’s the Right Stuff.