The Eagle has separated from the Command Module and is preparing for ignition which will take it to the landing site where history was made. The Professor is huddled around the glowing screen, enthusiastically awaiting the next phase of this mission. Forty years after the fact, he is just as fascinated as a child of yesteryear. He has the benefit of all of the excitement with none of the anxiety. He knows how the mission will go, he knows the mission forward and backwards, he knows those three brave men will return safely and what turns the Space Race takes from there. He isn't
supposed to be doing science this summer, but this kid just can't help it. During the down times, he's listening to the astronauts chat and banter and looking at pictures of what life was like
waaaaay back before his mother and father were born. (
OK, not that far back.)
This recent fascination started with
One Small Step, which is filled with interactive fun of the book variety. It was my special birthday treat to go to the bookstore with them and let them pick out something that electrified their imagination. The kid was hugging this one all the way to the register. He loves every part of it. Right now, he gets to live it in a very special way. And all he has been able to say is, "Wow. Oh, wow! This is just amazing."
"...we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone,..." ~ President John F. Kennedy, Rice University, Houston, Texas on 12 September 1962
The Eagle has separated from the Command Module and is preparing for ignition which will take it to the landing site where history was made. The Professor is huddled around the glowing screen, enthusiastically awaiting the next phase of this mission. Forty years after the fact, he is just as fascinated as a child of yesteryear. He has the benefit of all of the excitement with none of the anxiety. He knows how the mission will go, he knows the mission forward and backwards, he knows those three brave men will return safely and what turns the Space Race takes from there. He isn't supposed to be doing science this summer, but this kid just can't help it. During the down times, he's listening to the astronauts chat and banter and looking at pictures of what life was like waaaaay back before his mother and father were born. (OK, not that far back.)
This recent fascination started with One Small Step, which is filled with interactive fun of the book variety. It was my special birthday treat to go to the bookstore with them and let them pick out something that electrified their imagination. The kid was hugging this one all the way to the register. He loves every part of it. Right now, he gets to live it in a very special way. And all he has been able to say is, "Wow. Oh, wow! This is just amazing."
Have you had the opportunity to take him to NASA in Houston? Our kids enjoyed the tours although they didn't think there were enough of them. :) Their favorite was the tour of historic mission control.
ReplyDeleteSo cool, Charlotte! We were at a planetarium show last Friday and I don't know whose curiosity was piqued more--the kids or mine.
ReplyDelete(Probably mine. I am, after all, the geeky homeschooling mom who is reliving my school days vicariously through my children.)
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteWe hope to do a trip to NASA maybe this fall or early next year. We are also considering a trip to the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL the next time we are visiting in-laws.
Margaret,
Our planetarium opens back up this year after being closed for construction. We are super excited!