Space Shuttle

Endeavor took off today...yawn. But not so fast. Twenty five years ago (1984) Aleene and I were at Cape Canaveral and witnessed the launch of Discovery. What a sight; what memories. We have attached to the shuttle program ever since. I remember making the circuit of local elementary schools showing my slides and telling of my eyewitness account. Today, that is...ho-hum. With the exceptions of Columbia and Challenger, the shuttle does what it does and we yawn.

My thanks to the people in the space program. Because of them there are so many electronic, computer and hardware (like ceramic and carbon surfaces) improvements that will be with us for decades. The cell phone coverage concept and technology was developed by NASA. (I learned that when I attended the workshop at NASA Lewis Center in Cleveland the summer before the launch we saw.)

Anyhow, one more reflection and one more experience to share that really stands out looking back on the past 50 years.