Space Shuttle Discovery Launches on Final Voyage
It was a bittersweet moment when I saw this article today. The Shuttle Discovery has launched successfully for its 39th and last time.
I have always loved reading and learning about the space program. I suppose I come by it naturally. My dad loves looking up at the stars at night, as do I. And since I was a young child, I have always dreamed of traveling to space. How amazing must it be to look on our tiny earth and see the immensity of space. I cannot imagine orbiting the earth and not thinking of our amazing Creator nonstop. But, alas, science was not my best subject.
For my entire life I have only know the shuttle program. I have seen its joys as we have built the International Space Station (ISS), and its sorrows when we lost the Challenger and the Columbia. I know the technology it has brought the U.S., and the advances it has made in science. Some of the most basic tech tools we have today are a result of the space program.
So, reading this article was bittersweet. The Discovery will be retired when it returns, eventually making its way to the Smithsonian Museum, where it can long be treasured and admired. And, after Atlantis and Endeavor make their journeys this year, they, too, will be retired. And the shuttle program will end. And since President Obama has cut back on funding for NASA and instead encouraged the private sector to take over, it may be a long time before we return to space.
It is my prayer and desire that this mindset be changed, and we return to the heavens soon. Thank you, Discovery, for all you have done. You and your crews have served your country well. May God bless the current crew, and return you safely home.
**Thanks to nasa.gov for the use of the picture. This is a picture of the lift-off this morning. Below picture also from nasa.gov.
2 comments:
It's so hard to believe that it's just about over. Daddy has been working on software for NASA for a long, long time now, and he was always bringing home cool stuff and telling us about new experiments and such. I too dreamed of traveling to space, but alas.
It is a sad day that America will no longer be leading in space. sad sad day.
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