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Il tredicesimo cavaliere (The thirteenth knight)

I was more or less twelve years old when I sat down with pen and paper and passed a whole afternoon writing a long letter in my unsure handwriting. I wrote about how a couple of years before my mother brought me to see a documentary on the X-series of experimental aircraft. “Watch, you’ll like it,” she said while observing me keenly. I was so enthralled by what I saw that I would dream of those rockets for many nights to come. In my letter I wrote about how much I admired astronauts and my interests in space sciences, among other things.

I addressed everything to “NASA- United States of America” and forgot all about it. A few weeks later the mailman delivered me a large packet filled to the brim with pamphlets, manifests and brochures: NASA had responded, cementing my position as a “space-enthusiast” forever (which I’m still proud of today). We are people who have a spontaneous and genuine interest in space exploration even though we don’t have any formal scientific education. Space enthusiasts are almost a movement unto themselves, and if we are organized and directed wisely we could be of great service to the scientific community.

With our activism we contribute both to public opinion and the world of politics. Enthusiasts represent a real source of funding in that we would be able to volunteer and donate. Since the late 70s I have been involved in the simulation game field in a professional capacity.