Take Off!

The Discovery Channel is showing When We Left Earth: NASA Missions on TV. I caught it this afternoon and I found myself mesmerized.

When I visited the Johnson Space Center Museum in Houston, Texas, I took in each and every possible exhibit and demonstration. I loved looking at the NASA mission time line and seeing memorabilia from the Apollo missions, crew pictures including Ronald E. McNair (2nd African American in space, 1984) and Sharon Christa McAuliffe (the first teacher to fly to space) from the tragic Challenger Shuttle Mission in 1986 , and information on Columbia Shuttle Mission re-entry tragedy in 2003.

NASA tragedies aside, I love learning about space travel and astrology (sometimes). I love seeing the moon and stars! I am amazed by the intellect and physical strength that astronauts/mission specialists possess in order to train and then travel into space. Most have experience in the U.S. Navy or Air Force, which speaks towards their training.

Most importantly, the legacy that astronauts leave behind is insurmountable, especially if they live to talk about it. How do you describe telling your child "I was one of the people who put the Hubble Telescope into orbit"? How does your child feel knowing that, they may never surpass such an accomplishment. If you don't make it due to some unfortunate mission tragedy, your former schools can be renamed to pay tribute, significant buildings in your field may be named after your, and you can even have an asteroid named after you.

I don't think teaching would get me all of that. Well, not unless I'm a teacher that travels to space. Until that happens, I'm adding something to my to-do before I'm 30 list: See a space shuttle launch.

*Jas*