NASA, National Geographic and Me

I had lunch at The Lodge at Torrey Pines today with my friend Dan Goldin and what a beautiful day it was. (Dan on left with his lucky hat that saw 63 successful shuttle launches and Spectrum’s maiden flight) The sun, the blue sky, the view overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it was great. Aside from the glorious day, Dan is wonderful to have a conversation with no matter the weather. You see, Dan was the head of NASA from 1992 to 2001 and truly rescued the agency from the brink of disaster. After his appointment by Bill Clinton he went on to shake up the agency and do more with less. I think Dan saved the taxpayers something in the neighborhood of 40 billion dollars. He is just a ton of fun to be around and always has some exciting story to share. Dan also is on the board of trustees of National Geographic. One of the projects that I am rather interested in is sponsored by The Waitt Family Foundation and National Geographic and seeks to more deeply understand the history of humans. It’s called The Genographic Project. I recently sent in my wife’s, two daughters, one son and my DNA samples to trace our ancestry as a favor to a friend’s science project. I confirmed today that the lab has received our samples, batched them and is in the process of analyzing our DNA. As soon as I receive the results I will post at least mine. According to the lead geneticist, Dr. Spencer Wells, we all originated from a tribe in Africa.