To NASA from a Layman (376 words)

Dear NASA, (and fellow space enthusiasts!)

   

    When I was a little girl, while my friends were playing with Barbie, or experimenting with make-up, I was laying in the pasture on our farm looking up at the stars, wondering if there was anyone looking back at me. I would dream of distant planets with singing trees, orange oceans, and blue glowing moons.  I would imagine myself walking in phosphorescent sand, swimming in Jello-like lakes, and talking with gargantuan flower people!

    While I know Mars does not have these things, I do know that it is like nothing I have ever seen.  I am not a physicist, an astronomer, or even a pilot.  But what I am is an adventurer, a seeker, and a person who needs to know what it is like to be beyond this world.

    Quasars, pulsars, magnatars.  Black holes, nebulas, dark matter.  I can go on and on about the marvels of our universe, and I can only speculate about what they would be like if I could ever see them. Mars however, could be a reality. I can see the grains of red dust running through my gloved fingers, the glorious pink sky, the ancient dry river beds.  You, and only you, can give me a chance to truly know what one of these marvels are like. 

    Why should you choose me?  I'm sure there are many worthy candidates, those with PhD's,MD's, and the like, but I assure you none are as passionate as me. I know I am taking a risk here of sounding like some kind of crazed fan of a movie star, but I have to let you know that there is no soul on this planet that will ever appreciate this experience as much as I would. And I also know the risks, I know if something goes wrong it could mean my life, but it is a risk I am willing to take for the sake of knowledge.

    I am just a self educated layman with a passion for space, and for learning answers to it's mysteries.  It is the same passion you must have to be where you are. Are we so very different?  Please let me unlock this mystery with you.

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                      Sincerely, Tina Payne.