But then the conversation drifted to our future in space. They, too, felt that the end of the Space Shuttle program could have been a finale of sorts. But as you walk around the exhibits of the museum, you realize that there have been many near-death experiences for NASA. Those include two failed shuttle flights and the deadly Apollo 1 fire in 1967. The program always bounced back. The space veterans argued about resources. Can we go to the moon and Mars? No, and there's no real reason to return to the moon, they both agreed.

Climate change. Creationism versus evolution. Deep space travel. Tesla electric cars. These are just a few buzzwords that have been repeatedly popping up in current news over the last few years. What ties them all together is that they’re science-related. From literature and entertainment to advertising and education, it seems as if science, and the appreciation of science, is entering a social renaissance in the 21^st century. 

Brooklyn-based artist Nicholas Forker has a rare talent, and it is one that is quickly earning him recognition in a city that is virtually filled to the brim with aspiring young artists.  In today’s art landscape, traditional skills like figurative drawing are not always as visible as they once were.  Benefiting as he does from undeniable technical ability, and a reverence for the way things used to be done, Forker creates masterful works in ballpoint, in some cases pouring hundreds of hours into a single work. What has caught his attention lately is the way that adventurers, and in his most recent work, astronauts in particular, can be used as a stand-in for American culture.