An all too brief moment of WOW

[madamesilverspurs]

When we were kids we laid out in the back yard to watch Sputnik loop across the night sky, and we talked about it at school and over dinner, wondering what it meant that “they” had a thing “up there”. Then we got up super early to watch the astronauts get launched into space, and we stayed glued to that black-and-white TV until those tiny capsules splashed down and their passengers were retrieved. Alan Shepherd and John Glenn became real, larger than life heroes, and a new lexicon of phrases entered our vernacular with “A-okay” and “10...9...8...7…6…5…4...we have ignition” and “we have liftoff”. We kept watching and gasped in awe as the first footprints were left on the moon with the blue Earth rising over the lunar horizon.

Today there was another spectacular launch, a marvel of science and engineering, with ballet-like landings of two boosters, elegant and precise. Then there’s the live footage of a red sports car travelling through space and establishing orbit with a suitably attired mannequin at the wheel. Delightful! Our imaginations have been coaxed into a bit of exuberance over the marvelous things humans can accomplish if we put our minds to it. Back in the day we would be gathered to watch and watch again and talk about what this means and ask what could be next. But not today.

Today we break away now and then to glance once more at the videos. But our time is otherwise consumed by weighty and earthly matters. For one reason and one reason only, we can’t indulge that worthwhile fascination: we don’t dare take our eyes and ears off the president who has given us good reason to dread what he’s going to do next.

Personally, I'd prefer some quality time with a telescope. Ah, well. Some day.


.

[Jack-o-Lantern]

1. Spectacular event. Back to the moon, and eventually mars!

[Silver Gaia]

8. Yes!

When I was a young lass, I fully expected we'd have a colony on the moon by now, and would have at least visited Mars. *sigh*

[RandomAccess]

2. Today was fun

I didn't even know it was going to happen -- SO glad I was tuned in and Ali Velshi tipped me off. The PERFECT landing of those rockets was absolutely amazing. I have to confess I was more intrigued and amazed than I was as a child.

[Silver Gaia]

9. That landing was spectacular!

It took my breath away! It meant this is doable! Reuse, recycle... we'll get there...

[GoCubsGo]

3. Not as cool as the solar eclipse last summer.

But, right up there with it.

[Silver Gaia]

7. I get where you are coming from, but to my mind,

there is no way to compare these two things. They both involve space, but not much else, to my mind. One is a beautiful natural phenomenon that inspires awe (yet was once feared!), and the other is an example of the beauty and power of the human imagination, what we can accomplish for the good when we use our hearts, our minds, and our hands as a positive creative force. Both the eclipse and the launch were powerful, inspirational experiences , but for me, the reasons were totally different.

[GoCubsGo]

10. Nah, you don't get where I am coming from.

But, you are entitled to your opinions,

[Silver Gaia]

11. Yes, I am. As are you.

If I don't get it, why don't you explain? I meant no disrespect then or now.

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. Don't forget that by the time the Gemini program was wrapping and Apollo was beginning,

We could go inside and watch "Star Trek" once a week, and imagine where we all would be in a few, short years.

Still looking for my space trucker job!

[Silver Gaia]

6. Yup!

That was the vision of the future we dreamed of and believed would come to be. NOT this...

[Silver Gaia]

5. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts

on the SpaceX launch and reminiscing about NASA in its heyday. I enjoyed reading it, and had a similar experience while watching the launch.

My husband and I watched it again (we recorded it) with our daughter when she got home from work, and we talked about these things. My husband and I each grew up during the space race, and we both also remember the excitement and HOPE for the future that we all felt in those days. I watched a pre-dawn Saturn rocket launch from Cocoa Beach in the early 70s. I will never forget that feeling. Such power, exhilaration, joy, and hope all twined together.

My daughter's experience has been different, though. Wanting to share this feeling with her, I gathered her into the living room in front of the TV to watch her first space launch on a January morning in 1986. She was five. We both ended up sobbing. That was the launch of the Challenger. So, she has never known that feeling you and I grew up with. But she felt it watching the SpaceX launch last night.

It felt good to see the joy of the moment on her face as she watched. Finally, she could feel it, too. We all talked a while about how this made us feel, how it revitalized our hopes and dreams for a better future. But then... the grim, crass, almost unbelievable reality of NOW began to seep back in. The launch gave us a shred of hope to hang onto again, though, and we surely needed that. Without hope and dreams, we are lost.