Today, we all went into the conference room at work and watched the final space shuttle launch. It was an awesome experience to watch with a roomful of people, many of whom were engineers. For a minute, when they held countdown, we were concerned there'd be a long delay, but there wasn't.
Our group gathering had some funny moments. When one of the engineers tried to increase the volume, she knocked us off the NASA channel and onto a Jewelry Shopping Network. So then when the space shuttle launch was put on hold, another engineer joked that someone at NASA had tried to find the volume button.
We also had one of our engineers down to watch the launch and everyone kept suggesting we call him. Have him jump up and down, one of the guys said when the camera was on the crowd.
Watching the shuttle go up was an awe-inspiring moment--something I forget with the frequency of launches. If I missed one, it was no big deal, there'd always be another. And yet there will be no more.
And as the big fuel tank separated from the shuttle and Atlantis pulled away, it was sad. There will be no more shuttle launches and America has no new era of space exploration in the wings. This is it. The final hurrah and every time I think of that, my heart feels heavy.
I love the possibilities of space exploration. My first books were science fiction romances set in the future. A future where Earth, specifically the Western Alliance, had begun to colonize other planets. Jarved Nine was the third one. In my future, space is important and moving out into it vital.
Possibilities. I love the possibilities. Maybe that's why I love SF Romance so much--anything is possible.
Dear America, please reinvest in our space program. It's worth the costs associated with it because it allows everyone to dream...at least a little. And it allows us to believe that--indeed--anything is possible.
