May 15, 2011

Beautiful morning. The Endeavor Space Shuttle launched this morning. Usually, I can see it streak across the sky but I missed it this morning.

The Endeavor will resupply the Space Station and run physics experiments on the origins of the universe while in space.

I got to thinking about the space program and how my generation is the first to experience the wonders of space travel.

Sputnik was launched on Oct. 4, 1957. I was six and remember sitting on the trunk of our 1951 Ford watching it fly across the sky. My Dad was thrilled to see it. I thought it looked like a falling star and wondered if I should make a wish on it.

When I was a senior in high school, NASA landed astronauts on the moon. I remember watching it on television. It seemed miraculous that they really had gone to the moon.

Now the last of the shuttle missions has happened in my 60th year. I do wonder what will come next. I hope that we will never give up the exploration of space. I guess my Star Trek is showing. I really would like to know what is out there. I may never know, but hopefully my grandchildren or great-grandchildren will know.