My Life as an Astronaut

Catchy title for this post, huh? I never actually made it into space, or the space program for that matter. But when I was in elementary school I was sure that I was going to be an astronaut. I studied star charts and memorized all the constellations, I subscribed to a kids' magazine that was just about space, I got a 2nd place in a regional competition with a project about the space shuttle (which included a 4 foot tall paper mache Columbia), and my mom would regularly take me up to the observatory at ISU to star gaze.

I remember what a big deal the first space shuttle flight was. In the past, the rockets just crashed back to Earth. But now we would be able to use the shuttle over and over again, like a plane. For me it was the landing that stands out more than the launch, because it was the novelty of a space craft being able to land. I was in 3rd grade and I made a banner to hang in our front window to welcome the astronauts home. To commemorate that I made a hasty sign to welcome home the last shuttle astronauts, and I hung it in the front window. (The kids call me a weirdy--oh well.)

Probably the most exciting experience I had with the space program was when I went to see the launch of Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. I don't know if my parents or grandparents have any pictures from that day but I can remember it vividly. We stood on the mainland, not out at Cape Canaveral. There were tons of people. I remember people climbed up on the traffic lights to get a good view. I saw the shuttle and the blazing trail it left in the sky as it quickly disappeared. But the part that impressed me the most was the sound, which came later. It was so loud it shook the ground, and made my heart race.

I got out my newspaper from the Sally Ride mission to show Mr. C. His response, "Cool. I never saw a space shuttle launch." Now I feel like a crappy parent for all the missed opportunities I had to take the kids to Florida to see/experience the shuttle and I didn't. Of course none of them are passionate about space, so it's probably not that big of a screw up on my part. I won't beat myself up over it.