Lift-off

When I was a young boy, probably about 9 or 10 years old, I watched a Walt Disney hour long TV show about man’s future trip to the moon. In black and white, the Disney animators showed a towering rocket, conical in shape, as it left an unnamed Florida space center to carry its crew to a space station and then on to the moon.

For months afterward, I drew pictures of the rocket, the launch, the space station and men landing on the moon. At some level, I wondered whether Disney’s futuristic predictions would ever come true and certainly whether they’d occur during my lifetime.

Of course, it all came to pass (although not quite the way Disney envisioned it).

At this moment I'm writing from Titusville Florida, 12.3 miles from the launch site of Space Shuttle STS-118. The launch occurred about 30 minutes ago and as I watched the shuttle lift-off, followed by an orange-white trail of flame, I thought back to the Disney show and actually got choked up. The human race in general and our country in particular can and does accomplish great things.

The shuttle is, of course, old news, but when you see it lift off for the first time, up close and personal, you cannot help but be awe struck. I know it sounds hokey, but watching this magnificent technological achievement gives me hope. That's a benefit that NASA never mentions.