Iam certain these words or something like them, especially after a year of dealing with COVID-19, may have crossed your mind more than once. I know they have for me. But they often become self-fulfilling, wreaking havoc on creative, innovative thinking. Good ideas are, consequently, often pushed aside, never to see the light of day Ultimately, these words end up proving the naysayers correct and become self-fulfilling. Yet somehow, some people are able to push through them, adapt to the situation, and persevere in spite of the odds. This type of perseverance is nowhere more critical than in the expansion of humanity into space.
James Dyson spent 15 years developing over 5,000 prototypes before finally completing the design for his revolutionary vacuum cleaner. When no other manufacturer would take it on as part of an existing product line, Dyson launched Dyson Limited to manufacture and distribute his concept, and it is now one of the top-selling vacuums in the United States. Chester Carlson’s idea for electrophotography was shot down more than 20 times by companies such as IBM, 3M, and Kodak, but through his perseverance, he was able to finally enter into an agreement with a small photo-paper company called Haloid (later known as Xerox). Twenty-one years after inventing electrophotography, now known as xerography, the first convenient office copier using the technology was unveiled.