Ever since I was a little kid... I have been absolutely in love with the U.S. Space Program. Alan Shepard blasted into space for a suborbital flight in May, 1961. By the time John Glenn orbited the earth in February, 1962, I had a new love, NASA. Nothing was cooler to a nine year old kid than someone blasting into space and coming back in one piece. It was inconceivable to me that someone could actually survive being blasted into space atop a big fireball, and splash down into the ocean and be picked up.
I remember waiting for John Glenn to splash down, and be picked up by the helicopters of the USS Hornet. I remember it clearly, as if it were yesterday rather than 50 years ago.
Throughout the years following, I don't think I ever missed a launch or recovery of a space capsule, from the Mercury flights, through the Gemini flights, through the Apollo flights, through the Shuttle flights. I promised myself that someday I would see a live launch, and DID get to see the last launch of the Shuttle Atlantis in person, on July 8, 2011 from a highway about five miles from Cape Canaveral. It was one of the highlights of my life, something I will forever remember. It was incredibly exciting, and so loud the ground shook! (Note: By the way, if you want to experience the feeling of real space flight, go to Disney's EPCOT and make sure you ride Mission Space. Check it out on Google or Wikipedia... it's an awesome and intense experience. And I DID IT!! I figured it was the closest I'd ever get to actual physical space flight.)
On the flight of Gemini IV, in June of 1965, Ed White made the first "space walk" and I was spellbound and in awe that this human could be tethered to a spacecraft moving through space at an alarming speed, and survive. When he had to reenter the capsule, he said it was the "saddest moment" of his life. In July, 1969 I sat transfixed, immovable, in front of a black and white TV in the living room of our house, watching man land on the Moon. Again, I was in awe and amazed at the footprint of Neil Armstrong, looking like a footprint in a puddle of flour. I instantly felt sorry for Michael Collins, the astronaut in the capsule orbiting the Moon as Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked and hopped around on the Moon like little kids. He had to watch it and not be on the Moon with Armstrong and Aldrin. Bummer!
I followed in fear as Apollo 13 was in danger of never returning to Earth, saved by the ingenuity of Astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert, Fred Haise and Lead Flight Director Gene Kranz and his crew. They rigged the life support system of the ship to safely bring them home, though it was a crapshoot, and very scary. I don't remember the media making lots of noise about the problem, but I remember being scared for them, and their families. I am proud to say I have James Lovell's autograph on the book he co-wrote, "Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13".
I remember being thrilled to the bone when the Shuttle Columbia launched for the first time in April, 1981. Again, amazed that this craft not only took off from Earth but landed on Earth like a glider, piloted by a human crew. I wept openly in my office on January 28, 1986 when someone told me the Challenger exploded, for the crew, their families, and for Mission Control. I didn't breathe for hours as we waited for news of the fate of the Columbia as she fell apart in the atmosphere in February, 2003. I prayed at the memorials of both shuttle crews and graves in Arlington National Cemetery. I remembered the words of another of my heroes, President Ronald Reagan, as he eulogized the Challenger astronauts, saying they "...slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God." (paraphrased from "High Flight", a poem, printed below.)
In all this, over the years I've heard people bitch about the money spent, the lives lost, and the 'uselessness' of NASA and space travel. Though it absolutely INFURIATED me, I always backed away from those arguments. No more. If people bitch about it now... I have a short list of things to throw at them. Things that we would NOT have if it weren't for the Space Program. For instance: Teflon, GPS, solar panels, cable television, satellite radio, hand held video cameras, and hello... the INTERNET. I ask if they like their little playtoys, Iphones, Ipads, GPS systems, HBO. Most people just don't think.
ANYWAY, this started as a little tribute for the anniversary of the deaths of three of my childhood heroes: Edward White, Roger Chaffee and Gus Grissom, the three astronauts of Apollo 1, which exploded in fire on January 27, 1967.
So... God rest them, along with the heroes of Challenger and Columbia. Thank you, astronauts, both those who gave their lives, and those still alive. Thank you, National Aeronatics and Space Administration. You gave me countless happy hours and inspired me to become the avid reader I am. You gave me hope that yes, ordinary people could become astronauts. You gave me a great interest in Astronomy and a love of science (even though I sucked at it in school) and in the skies, stars, and everything space related. You gave me images from the Hubble Telescope which are awe inspiring and breathtaking. You gave me the ultimate item on my bucket list, witnessing the thrill of a live space launch. In my minds eye, I traveled with you all.
| HIGH FLIGHT Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long delirious, burning blue, I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untresspassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God. | |
| Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee No 412 squadron, RCAF Killed 11 December 1941 | |
