Launching Imagination
At face value, it might not seem overly impressive. Telescopes have been around for 400 years. And rockets? Since Elon Musk’s SpaceX the world averages around one rocket launch into outer space every three days. Access to space has also expanded…sort of. Last month on August 10th after winning a contest by Virgin Galactic an 18 year old college student from the Caribbean flew with her mother into space. For four minutes, she was weightless. She became one of the 600 people who have floated beyond the restraints of earth’s gravity.
Why then were all the world’s star gazers so intensely focused on the launch of one telescope folded into one rocket in one tiny tropical area of South America on Christmas Day 2021?
Brad Montague, New York Times Best Selling Author speaks to the group of Fellows and Mentors at the Kickoff Event. His latest book, the Fantastic Bureau of Imagination, looks at what allows and prevents people from exercising their imagination.
In his presentation author Brad Montague cites American author Mark Twain who wrote on wide range of topics in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been the topic of conversation for space nerds since astronomers and engineers started imagining it 30 years ago. Even while the Hubble Space telescope was sending iconic pictures and producing extraordinary scientific data, astronomers wanted to look deeper and explore further into the universe than what Hubble (or any other telescope) was able to do. In short, they wanted to discover as much as possible about the moments after the universe began, along with a lot of other amazing stuff. To do that, they needed to literally catch lightning in a bottle. Then, once it was caught, they needed to study it.
In very basic terms, the farther away in distance and further back in time that the light from a candle leaves the flame the more the light fades and changes. It makes sense. A candle lit on the moon is dimmer than one lit on a person’s dinner table while they are eating. It would also take 1.3 seconds longer for the light from the moon candle to reach that person’s eyes compared to the one next to the bowl of soup.
The engineers and astronomers at NASA imagined ways of viewing very far away galaxies and stars in different wavelengths of light that aren’t visible at this distance and that can take thousands or millions or billions of years to reach us. This mattered because it would allow the astronomers to take snapshots of space moments after the Big Bang which took place unimaginable distances away and an incredible number of years ago. They could only do this with new types of cameras which didn’t exist in 1990. Those astronomers at NASA and other space agencies around the world needed to imagine something that was, at the time, very very far from possible.
Mentor Summer Nichols leads the group discussion with Junior Fellows Jacorey Garrett and Makayla Bond representing Jackson Central-Merry High School. Building on the presentation by author Brad Montague, Summer rasied the question of “What is one thing that is “unimaginable” now but maybe imaginable when you are your parent’s age?”
Contining the conversation from Brad Montague’s presentation, Bobo Shelton leads a roundtable discussion with Fellows from South Side, Madison and JCM-ECH high schools. He put forward the question of “What are barriers to imagination, dreaming or aspiring that you see in your day to day life?”
On Friday September 8th, the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship welcomed the 2023 - 2024 Jackson Grown Leadership Fellows representing schools from across the Jackson Madison County School System (JMCSS). Composed of Juniors and Seniors, the group of Leadership Fellows includes 12 talented, high potential students with motivation to better understand their community and launch new ideas. Like the scientists, astronomers and engineers at NASA, Jackson Grown Fellows come into the program with a base of knowledge and experience. They know the neighborhoods, know the people and know the schools. Like those at NASA, they have a passion to look deeper and go further even if, at the moment, they aren’t certain what is possible, what they might discover or where their discoveries might lead. Also, like those at NASA, the Jackson Grown Leadership Fellows have a deep curiosity about what is yet to be found and yet to be tried. They know enough to know that they don’t know it all. Whether a NASA astrophysicist or high school student, this is rare.
Khamyrahn Caldwell, Junior Fellow representing South Side High School introduces himself for the first time to the group of Mentors and Fellows.
Ruthie Bray, Junior Fellow representing South Side High School answers the large group question of “What is your dream to do or be?”
knowledge to imagine
Imagining new things isn’t as simple as it may sound. The teams at NASA needed experience in many, many, many areas including astronomy, astrophysics, optical engineering, software development, project management and, of course, rocket science to name a few. The experiences and lessons they gained from other projects like the Apollo missions or space telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope gave them a foundation to think about what could be done differently and better. The experts also needed skills. Astrophysicists need to know physics and advanced mathematics. Software developers need to know programming languages like C++ and Python. Optical engineers need to know the temperature tolerances for materials used in optical systems used in space. In simple terms, they needed to know the alphabet before they could write poetry. In order to imagine what could be done, this required learning from what had been done.
“In order to imagine what could be done, they needed to learn from what had been done. ”
Freedom to imagine
In addition to experience and skills, the NASA astrophysicists, engineers, software developers and managers also needed the freedom to imagine. This required time to interact with each other. They needed to be able to bounce ideas off of one another. “Space” was needed to propose things and rethink those ideas over and over and over again. Brainstorming was essential. Crazy dreams and imperfect ideas were foundations to make big things happen. This freedom to think, reflect, interact and imagine however is expensive. Time is money. There is also no guarantee that it will deliver results. Whether it is a business, government or organization concened about budgets, doing so is risky. It can often be viewed as, at best, a luxury and, at worst, a waste of time. NASA’s willingness to be flexible and give their brightest and most motivated staff the freedom to flip their imagination switches on was the starting point for building what is, hands down, one of the most complicated, ambitious and, even at this early stage, successful machines ever built.
Fellows and Mentors connect for the first time at the 2023 - 2024 Kickoff. 10 new Fellows and 2 returning Fellows make up this year’s class of Fellows. Jackson Grown added 5 new Mentors to the program in addition to the group of 5 Mentors who have worked with the program since its start in 2021.
Courage to imagine
Often we think of “launching” as the act of pressing a red button. Everyone holds their breath before the “3-2-1-lift off moment”. Will it work? Will it explode? Will it eventually do what it was designed to do whenever it gets to wherever it’s going? Despite the thousands of designs and redesigns, tests and retests success isn’t guaranteed. Even with the brightest minds from the most prestigious universities combined with the newest, most powerful technologies, the stamp of “mission accomplished” isn’t promised.
In the case of the James Webb Space Telescope there were 344 single points of failure in the NASA team’s “imagination project”. That means 344 individual maneuvers, functions and actions that needed to go perfectly at a speed of over 1,000 mph, in temperatures reaching -323 degrees Fahrenheit, at a distance of roughly 1 million miles away and all in the vacuum of space. If one failed, the entire $10 billion dollar project would fail. All of it.
Here we see that imagining a new, incredible space telescope took courage. What if a wire gets crossed a million miles from earth? What if one of the 18 massive mirrors only aligns to 1 / 9,999th the width of a human hair instead of the precise 1 / 10,000th of the width needed? What if the project runs out of money before it’s finished? What if the telescope gets hit with an asteroid? What if nothing new is found? Each question is practical and reasonable. Each is essential. Each must be considered. For many people, questions like these however are reasons to stop instead of reasons to try. What is seen as visionary imagination if a project succeeds can equally be seen as irresponsible recklessness if it fails. Instead of the machine that discovered life on other planets it could be history’s most expensive fireworks show. Not only did the NASA team’s imagination require experience, skills and freedom, it also required more than a little courage to take the risk of imagining.
“What is seen as visionary imagination if a project succeeds can equally be seen as irresponsible recklessness if it fails.”
Victoria Haywood, Junior Fellow from Madison Academic High School introduces herself to the full group of Mentors, Fellows and guests.
Disappointment is the great opponent of imagination. If people are honest, they would admit a fear of where imagination might lead. Would a new degree fail to lead to a new career? Would starting a new NGO fizzle in a few years? Would changing jobs provide more longterm security…and happiness? Would a trip to a new country not be what it looks like on Instagram? Would a new partner not be as perfect as one would hope?
Perhaps this is one of the most fascinating things about the concept of launching imagination. Ultimately, it is a story…a dramatic story. It is a story of imperfect people imagining a big idea who, often together with other imperfect people, take a huge risk in trying something new.
In the coming year the Jackson Grown Leader Fellows will be encouraged to imagine. In May 2024, this the 3rd Cohort of Jackson Grown Leader Fellows will stand in front of the Jackson Madison-County community at the 3rd Annual Challenge to the City. The Fellows will have built on the experience and skills they have gained as students and young citizens. They will have used the freedom provided in the context of the Monthly Meetings. This discussion, reflection and brainstorming will have helped them explore ways to address challenges they have seen. Finally, empowered by Mentors and Coaches, the Fellows will have developed the courage to speak on stage to some of the areas most influential leaders. Their imaginations will drive their own missions to push the limits of what is understood and attempted as the community reaches for the stars.
Pautez Freeman leads the small group discussion on the topic of “imagination”. He is the first former Jackson Grown Leader Fellow (Cohort 1) to return and serve as a Mentor. He is currently a sophmore at the University of Memphis at Lambuth and is pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in phsycology.
Shea Brown, Director of Community at the Leaders Education Foundation offers a welcome to the Fellows and Mentors for the coming year. During the Kickoff Event, Leaders Education Foundation announced a donation of 5,000 dollars to the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship for the 2023 - 2024 school year.
A well-known figure in Jackson Madison County, Carita Cole give welcomes Fellows as they are seated. Carita is a Testing Coordinator and Paralegal at West Tennessee Legal Services. She has also established a large profile as a musician and performer across the region.
The Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship brings together a select group of high school seniors for mentor investment, skills development, network building and knowledge growth during the critical final years of high school. It is designed to give each fellow a personalized leg up for their next stages of learning and advancement. In addition to the invaluable commitments of Mentors and Counselors in each high school across the JMCSS, it relies on dedicated financial supporters and a range of committed partners thoughout Jackson Madison County.
