Remembering 25 Years Ago

It shocked me this morning to realize that it has now been 25 years since the space shuttle Challenger exploded after taking off. I remember watching it on TV, and being shocked that something like that could happen. At the time, I was very taken by stars, the moon, and all sorts of astronomical things, and so I had a huge interest in the space shuttle.

In the days and weeks that followed, I remember collecting headlines and pictures about the tragedy. I thought it would be so cool to go to space someday. I still remember that I thought that they should send a kid along on one of the flights, since kids are so naturally curious.

Just last month, I was reading a couple of articles in Popular Science about how commercial space flight will soon become a reality in our world. While it will most likely be too costly for me to do in my lifetime, it truly is astounding how creative we humans can be. It must be that lingering "image of God" thing, since God Himself is remarkably creative.

If anyone ever becomes extremely wealthy and wants to send me on one of those commercial flights to space, just send the check to me. I'll make sure to mention your name in a future blog post. Hopefully mine won't be the one that will be remembered in this kind of way 25 years later.