FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Irish writer Frank O'Connor told the
story of two boys standing beside a tall orchard wall launching
a small, felt, round object up in the air like a Frisbee. If you
had been there to see them, it would have looked strange -- even
foolish. With the enthusiasm of a college graduate, one of the
boys hurls his hat and you arrive just in time to see it leave
the hand of its owner and travel high -- up and over an imposing
and significant wall. You might have wanted to call out and say,
"Why did you do that? Now you are going to have to climb over
and get it!" To which, the boys would reply with sly and knowing
grins, "Exactly. That's the whole idea." President John F.
Kennedy referenced this story in 1963 when speaking of his
commitment to space exploration despite the dangers and many
unknown factors. He explained how O'Connor and his friends
"would make their way across the countryside, and when they came
to an orchard wall that seemed too high and too difficult to
permit their voyage