I would like to dispel the mistaken belief that we have a safer and more secure future just staying put on Earth than we might if we travel to and live on those places in space that NASA studies. As we have observed recently, Earth is an extremely dynamic (ever changing) place. Earthquakes and other natural disasters can take away everything that we have in an instant. The very ground beneath our feet is in very slow, but continuous motion as Earth's tremendous internal heat engine causes every continent to drift. The power of all natural forces is awesome, and fortunately, we have not witnessed a global scale natural catastrophe in recent human history. There is no doubt that global disasters will happen in the future and that billions of lives could be lost in a very short period of time.

We have learned much of what we understand about earth by studying other planets and the forces that drive events in other corners of our solar system and universe. The more that we learn, the better we can prepare to survive future disasters on Earth, but ultimately, we must move beyond having just one world to continue the human story, as well as the story of our companion life forms here on Earth.

Earth did not come with a lifetime guarantee. Our planet is not exempt from asteroid collisions or sterilizing outbursts of powerful radiation from space. We don't know how long it will be before the molten metal core of Earth cools down and we will lose our life-preserving magnetic radiation shield that surrounds our planet. Perhaps there are other threats to life on Earth that science has not discovered so far.

NASA programs of space exploration, both robotic and manned, are improving our odds for success and survival by bringing us new understanding about the forces of nature. We are also taking our first baby steps as a space faring civilization at the same time. Please support NASA space exploration by voting for pro-space political candidates and by letting all politicians know that you are aware of how important space exploration and space technology is.

We can be proud of the space efforts made by our generation so far. Let's not let future generations down by failing to do enough.