Simply Klint

Thursday, March 10, 2011

reflections on a historic event

Yesterday marked the end of Space Shuttle Discovery's service to NASA. We just happened to be visiting the science museum and got to watch the simulcast and talk with an astonaut and have him explain the goings on and the final phases of the landing. Also he told us some of what would be done to commemorate the retiring of the shuttle. It wasn't until we got home that it struck me, that if we hadn't been at the science museum, I would have had no idea that this happened today, let alone watched it happen. Then I checked my Facebook and Twitter feeds as I have found they are a pretty reliable source of news and there was no metion of NASA anywhere. Had the nation really lost interest in the space program so completely in just one lifetime? I remember when I was little all the kids wanted to grow up to be president or astronauts (or ninjas). This might be a little bit left over from our parent's generation, but what great aspirations to reach for. To become a member of the space program you have to be extremely talented, smart, and committed. All things attainable through hard work and perseverence. Now kids want to grow up to be the next music or movie sensation or lottery winner. How did the shift from hard work to relying on luck sway from one to the other so quickly? I don't know, but I hope to keep the "traditional" hard work ethic alive in my family as long as possible. It makes you feel a little better if you know you can achieve your dreams if you work hard enough at them.