The Space Shuttle Program... :)

Today, my friend Lisa posted a video of the Space Shuttle Discovery hitching a ride aboard a NASA 747.  Last July, I was lucky enough to fulfill an item on my bucket list... to see a space shuttle launch.  I saw the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis... in person.  It was a most wonderful thing.

Today made me reflect on my longtime LOVE of the US Space Program.  From the first moment of the launch of Alan Shepard into space, to the first orbits of John Glenn, through the Gemini program, the Apollo program and finally the Shuttle program.  I was only nine when John Glenn orbited the earth but I was glued to the TV to see the scratchy, blurry images there.  I remember all the Gemini launches, the recoveries, the missions.  I've recalled the tragedy of the first Apollo capsule which burned and took the lives of three heroes, Grissom, White and Chaffee.  Followed all the Apollo launches, and was riveted to the TV in July of 1969 when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon for the first time.

I watched in wonder as the first shuttle, Columbia, launched in April of 1981 and safely landed.  And every shuttle thereafter.  I remember exactly the day in my office when we lost the Challenger and her crew.  And the day when the Columbia disintegrated on reentry. And finally, my own presence at the Atlantis launch.

There are many people who were and are dead set against space flight.  I've had many discussions with these people.  But now, I can say... if a person is against the Space Program, I guess they don't have SATELLITE, which means no cable, no cellphone, no internet.  HA.  Win.  No further argument necessary.

But I digress.  Today was the icing on the cake, to see the minute long video of the Shuttle Discovery come to her final exhibition place, the Smithsonian.  How appropriate.  I only hope that anyone who has read to the bottom of this long drawn out note will someday soon go to the museum to see it... to the Air and Space Museum in DC to pay homage to those who first thought man could dare to think he could FLY.  

Think of what Orville and Wilbur Wright would have thought of all of this, and F-22 Raptors and NASA 747s and Space Shuttles!!!   I close with the words of the great Ronald Reagan, in his speech honoring the crew of the Challenger:

"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God.""    

Thank you for reading.