A Rocket-based Soapbox

I’m pretty sure I’m keeping at least one pair of my NASA socks.

Why would I, you ask, when I have SO many others to choose from? Because, when I was a kid, NASA meant a LOT to me. In fact, from the time my parents were kids to my own childhood, NASA represented the very best we could accomplish when we worked on a common, lofty goal, in congress.

You did known that “congress” means to “to move together”, right? I mean, it’s not common knowledge, I guess. I suppose I can’t fault you if you didn’t know it, seeing as a more colloquial definition could be more like “to block movement”.

At any rate, when I was a kid, NASA shone like a beacon of all the US could achieve when properly motivated. Somehow, though, our motivation to accomplish great things solely for the sake of accomplishing them has gone by the wayside, totally escaping a generation or two. Which is to say, my kids don’t know what it’s like to watch a rocket or shuttle launch from a classroom TV. They’ve never felt the pride we all used to feel at hearing the name NASA, knowing what the agency had achieved in less then a paltry 50 years.

And that, feels like a real shame.

Have a great weekend, kids, and try not to set the place on fire.