Whilst Waiting on Atlantis

It seemed a good moment to write some things down. At the moment I'm waiting for the launch to either go ahead or be scrubbed temporarily due to the weather.

I remember seeing the first flight of Columbia when most of us alive at the time were a lot younger. I was working on my first Algonquin diploma when Challenger exploded with all hands, and didn't find out until I got home from classes. My father's ashes had only been in their urn about a month when we lost Columbia. The whole shuttle program made Canadian astronauts not only a realistic possibility, but a historical fact. It's why we now call a certain building the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.

So...like most of us, I've lived a lot of history with this program.

I'm going to miss the shuttles. I wish we'd take the concept further, and I know there's people around the world co-operating and competing to build a better shuttle-style spacecraft. Some of them are even here in Canada.

The main thing is that - as I said in somewhat ruder fashion two days ago - I don't believe the Space Age is over yet. Not for the United States, nor for anyone else looking to partake in the risks and rewards of it.

Bottom line is summed up in this cartoon:



Let's keep the crews flying.