Today’s Youth Shoot for the Money, Not the Moon

Throughout most of this century in America, millions of young boys grew up wanting to be ballplayers. Society might change and eras might come and go, but that simple fact never did.

For a brief shining moment in the century, however, millions of young boys set their sights higher. Much higher, such as into the stars.

It seems like a long time ago, but millions of young boys once dreamed of being astronauts. When today’s baby-boomer boys were in their what-do-I-want-to-be phase, few things seemed as glamorous as being an astronaut. Names like Shepard, Grissom and Glenn meant something to us. Like ballplayers, they were heroes in uniforms--minus numbers on their backs.

Nowadays, talk of being an astronaut sounds like something from light-years ago.

“I’m sure it’d still be pretty cool to be an astronaut,” says 14-year-old Jake Kilroy, “but--”

“--no one ever talks about it,” says his buddy Jeff Monnig, finishing the sentence.

I snagged the two ninth-graders for a brief chat this week while they were cruising the MainPlace mall in Santa Ana. However unscientific my survey was, I wanted to get a sense of whether today’s young teens even entertain a thought that once captivated boys their age.

“You think about careers at this age but you don’t really think about astronaut being one of them,” says Jake, who’ll be attending Orange High School. “It’s not a glamour spot and it’s not a new thing, either. It came out 40 years ago. Kids today are going for what can get them famous fast.”

I asked them for a glimpse of what boys their age, in general, think about the astronaut business. And, indeed, both boys seemed reasonably well-informed and respectful about America’s history in space.

But as far as wanting to emulate astronauts?

Becoming a rock star or an actor is today’s glamour job, they say. “A lot of people want to become lawyers too,” Jake says. “A lot want to be vets or doctors.”

“Or do what’s in the movies,” Jeff, who will attend Villa Park High School, interjected. “When ‘Twister’ came out, everybody wanted to study tornadoes.”

The boys said “99.9%” of their peers are aware of the moon landing in 1969, the 30th anniversary of which is this week. Nor is the event insignificant to them.

“If I was around when they landed on the moon in ‘69, I probably would have gotten really excited to do it [pursue an astronaut career],” Jake said. “But we really haven’t made a big breakthrough lately.

“Maybe when people go to Mars, people will start talking about it,” Jake says.

“We haven’t explored anywhere new,” Jake says. “We haven’t looked for intelligent life. The biggest thing that’s happened at NASA lately was John Glenn going back into space.”

Coincidentally, both boys’ grandfathers worked in the aerospace industry. I asked why, for their generation, exploring space has slipped in the glitz department.

They agree that the computer world, and especially computer games, has made space seem less mysterious and, therefore, more ordinary. “I think that’s exactly it,” Jake says. “If they made a new kind of thing, like space racing, then maybe more people would think about it.”

In the early days of the space program, I tell them, people thought they were actually making a contribution to society.

“And I think they did,” Jake says. “I don’t know how much people make in the astronaut business, but I read in every magazine that Mel Gibson made $20 million for a movie and that Michael Jordan is making $46 million. It just goes on. It’s all about money. Sports, acting, musicians. It’s all about money.”

Both boys agree a major moment is needed. They talked about manned flights to Mars or Jupiter. They talked about getting in touch with alien life.

“That would be really cool,” Jake says.

Both boys saw and liked “Apollo 13,” the 1995 movie version of the ill-fated lunar flight in 1970. They went to see it, they say, because they knew the stars in it and the story line.

But as successful as that movie was, it didn’t inspire a new generation of wannabe astronauts.

“I’m telling you,” Jake says, “it’s all about money.”

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com