Imagine this... a young island girl in a lush tropical jungle surrounded by the most exotic specie of fauna and flora and then suddenly a shining metal booster rocket appears with its engines revving, skewing fire beneath its cylindrical body and about to take off into other wondrous worlds beyond the coastlands of my tiny island of Panay.

What is the connection of my imaginings to NASA's Space Program. Growing up as a child, I read with great delight NASA's information campaign material. Glossy, colorful, high impact magazines and brochures that made me aware that there are wondrous universes beyond ours and that no island girl ever should only belong to one island.

When I came to the United States on a State Department Leadership Grant the first place I wanted to see was NASA, then at Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was an amazing imagination come true and I never missed any event or happening ever at NASA.

That is why I'm stunned and saddened at its recent announcement that it will scrap its Shuttle Program. Please reconsider. There is nothing like it ever. NASA's bold steps not only to conquer space but to know about man's place in the universe, from beginning to beginning ―no ending please, will continue to connect us all to what I believe is a continuous and unbroken line to other wondrous places in the universe still to be discovered.