Goodbye to the Space Shuttle

This week we had two goodbyes; first to our favorite literary and cinematic hero, Harry Potter. And with its successful landing this morning, the second was to the Space Shuttle program.

For the last 30 years, there have been 135 Space Shuttle missions to spark our imagination. Today that program as we know it comes to an end. I am sad about this, really genuinely sad. The Space Shuttle has been a part of my life as far back as I can remember.

A space shuttle, in the form of a reusable vehicle that would transport astronauts to space, was first conceptualized in the 1950s. We had the Gemini, Apollo, and other programs as steps in the progression to develop the technology needed.

The first space shuttle was constructed in the 1970s with test flights starting in 1979. 1981 brought about the first orbital test flight. Nov. 11, 1982 the space shuttle Columbia blasted off for the first operational flight. I was 14 years old and watched that lift-off with wide-eyed wonder, awestruck by the bravery of the astronauts and the genius of the scientists and technicians that brought this into being.

On Jan. 28, 1986, the shuttle Challenger with seven astronauts launched and 73 seconds later it was destroyed in a catastrophic explosion. I was 17 years old and a senior in high school. We arrived at our morning Algebra class and were quickly ushered to the library where we spent the day blinking back tears while watching the news coverage of the disaster.

This was my first experience with a national tragedy and with the notion of collective grief on such a large scale. It was my first “Where were you when…?” moment, like “Where were you when Kennedy was assassinated?” was for the generation before me.

The Columbia disaster on Feb. 1, 2003 occurred when the shuttle disintegrated over Texas during a reentry in preparation for landing. I was older and a more jaded from the tragedies of life so while I was deeply saddened, it didn’t have the same core rattling impact. 

My childhood dream was to be an astronomer or an astronaut. But abysmal math grades excluded me from either while poor eyesight and a fear of flying put the final nails in the coffin of my dream to be an astronaut. So I have been an armchair astronaut and vicariously enjoyed their exploits and achievements from afar.

What's next for mankind’s journey beyond our planet? A return to our moon? Manned flights to Mars, an asteroid or one of our neighbor’s moons? A shaky economy and the uncertain future of our nation’s finances make it difficult to justify the incredible expense of these types of missions. Money is desperately needed in other immediately critical areas.

But what price do you put on spurring our imagination and the possible improvements that these technologies and exploration could bring about? It’s hard to imagine an optimistic future where we remain tied to this planet.

I hope we reach out and continue our quest to explore the wonders and mysteries that surround us. My dream is that every child experiences that feeling I had when watching the first lift-off of the Space Shuttle.