For those in the US old enough to remember the early days of network television, TV stars on kids shows played a special role in inspiring dreams. The beginning of the “Apollo Era” and the race to go into space was accompanied by educational science TV and, fortunately, the beginning of “hands on” experiments and visionary teachers. Looking back, we especially remember Don Herbert, “Mr. Wizard”, who inspired a generation of young dreamers who went on to create and engineer the programs of ‘deep space’ and ‘earth science’, a legacy that continues in today’s pioneering, critically vital earth monitoring from space. We continue to track these historic missions…

Special thanks to Don Herbert and to all the the science educators who opened eyes of a generation and lit a torch of enlightened science at work.

Bill Nye: “Don Herbert’s techniques and performances helped create the United States’ first generation of homegrown rocket scientists just in time to respond to Sputnik. He sent us to the moon. He changed the world.”

(M Channel’s founder, as a young book editor in NY, edited Don’s science books.)