The Magic of the Shuttle
Like most kids who were school-age in the 1980s, I was a huge fan of the Space Shuttle. At the time, we watched every launch and every landing with excitement and a hint of reverence. Astronauts! A reusable space vehicle that launches like a rocket and lands like a glider! Genius!
Well past my childhood years, I'm still in awe of the Shuttle.
This was magical technology. Watching the Shuttle, you could easily imagine the day where shuttle orbiter technology and airplanes would somehow meet in the middle, making space travel possible for everyone. It was a sci-fi lover’s dream.
I watched Atlantis launch today on its mission to repair the Hubble space telescope again. I never cease to be amazed by the process, watching the engines fire, the shuttle lift off, and listening to mission control communicate with the astronauts.
I look at the next generation that will replace the Shuttle, the Orion capsule. I’m sure that it’s solid technology, but there’s something so deeply uninspired about returning to a glorified Apollo capsule. The sense of cutting-edge advancement is gone. And I find myself wondering if the next generation of kids is going to grow up feeling the same sense of awe for NASA that we did.
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