Flight
Today’s lead story on the front page of The Washington Post says, "NASA to Ground Shuttles Again."
What a sad headline. And discouraging. NASA obviously has no choice but to ground the missions while these chunks of foam keep blasting off the external fuel tank, but it’s still an upsetting proposition.
I don’t think too many people on my FList are into the space program, but I am. When I was a little girl, I really wanted to be an astronaut. Then when I got a little older, I wanted to be an astronomer. And I’ve held onto a lot of these curiosities. It’s amazing what you can observe in the night sky just with a decent pair of binoculars. And with a telescope? Even with my el-cheapo model, I can easily see the moons of Jupiter and rings around Saturn, and I have to continually adjust the view because the rotation of the earth changes the field of vision on such a regular basis. I love when the things you learn in 7th-grade science class really come true!
I also love being able to identify almost all of the constellations, as well as the planets, too, when they appear every once in a while. And as much as I love city life, I also love getting FAR away from things so you can REALLY see what’s up there. I remember driving through the desert southwest at night a few years ago and being stunned when I glanced through the moon roof. It was a total "Oh My God" moment, and I pulled off the road and parked and stared up at the sky for a while. It was pitch black all around me, but the sky was just covered with a blanket of bright stars, and you could really pick out where the Milky Way band was. Other things too. It was truly breathtaking.
All of this is especially fun now, too, with the girls. We were paying attention to the launch of Discovery because, among other things, they’ve both wanted to be astronauts, too. They really, truly believe that they can be. This is when they’re not wanting to be a "famous ballerina" or a "famous artist" or, my little one's latest, a baker. (Oh how I would love to have a pastry chef in the family. lol) But being an astronaut is right up there among the choices of the moment. And it’s been especially cool with this launch, because the current shuttle commander is a female, and my girls know that.
So, all in all, I can’t deny that the latest turn of events is a bit discouraging. I won’t have the heart to tell the girls that Discovery is the last space mission for a while, maybe for a long while. They don’t need to hear that yet. The prospect of limitless possibilities is so much better.
What a sad headline. And discouraging. NASA obviously has no choice but to ground the missions while these chunks of foam keep blasting off the external fuel tank, but it’s still an upsetting proposition.
I don’t think too many people on my FList are into the space program, but I am. When I was a little girl, I really wanted to be an astronaut. Then when I got a little older, I wanted to be an astronomer. And I’ve held onto a lot of these curiosities. It’s amazing what you can observe in the night sky just with a decent pair of binoculars. And with a telescope? Even with my el-cheapo model, I can easily see the moons of Jupiter and rings around Saturn, and I have to continually adjust the view because the rotation of the earth changes the field of vision on such a regular basis. I love when the things you learn in 7th-grade science class really come true!
I also love being able to identify almost all of the constellations, as well as the planets, too, when they appear every once in a while. And as much as I love city life, I also love getting FAR away from things so you can REALLY see what’s up there. I remember driving through the desert southwest at night a few years ago and being stunned when I glanced through the moon roof. It was a total "Oh My God" moment, and I pulled off the road and parked and stared up at the sky for a while. It was pitch black all around me, but the sky was just covered with a blanket of bright stars, and you could really pick out where the Milky Way band was. Other things too. It was truly breathtaking.
All of this is especially fun now, too, with the girls. We were paying attention to the launch of Discovery because, among other things, they’ve both wanted to be astronauts, too. They really, truly believe that they can be. This is when they’re not wanting to be a "famous ballerina" or a "famous artist" or, my little one's latest, a baker. (Oh how I would love to have a pastry chef in the family. lol) But being an astronaut is right up there among the choices of the moment. And it’s been especially cool with this launch, because the current shuttle commander is a female, and my girls know that.
So, all in all, I can’t deny that the latest turn of events is a bit discouraging. I won’t have the heart to tell the girls that Discovery is the last space mission for a while, maybe for a long while. They don’t need to hear that yet. The prospect of limitless possibilities is so much better.