The Eagle Has Landed!

          Over the new year the Clowds had a chance to visit another part of the country that was previously unexplored.  A weekend in the Houston area would not be complete without visiting one of the main destination there, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  It was an inner struggle as the planning of the trip unfolded.  I had a shoulder angel and a shoulder devil arguing with each other.  I always dreamed as a boy of space and rockets and anything that exploded.  That part of me was excited for the visit.  I would finally see all those things that made so many young kids say they wanted to be an astronaut when they grew up.  On the other hand part of me was saying, "What have you done for me lately?"  The grown up in me was trying to spoil it for the kid that still lives inside.  That mean old man was telling me what a waste of tax dollars it was to keep a program alive that had it's greatest moment over four decades ago.

Aye Aye: "Dude, we're in front of the Shuttle. Awesome"

          The outcome of the shoulder angel/devil battle might have come out very differently if this visit have been made without the kids in tow.  As we made our way through the doors and to the tram line that would take us on our first tour of the day the excitement started to grow.  We made our way to the training facilities, and then stopped by the Saturn V building that included information highlighting the Apollo missions.  We watched a short movie about space exploration that included a short clip about the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters.  They have the podium that President Kennedy used to announce our goal to put a man on the moon.  After a picnic for lunch, we finished our day by visiting historic mission control, a look inside the shuttle cockpit, smelling the moon, and checking out the Mars Rover.  It was a full day of exploring NASA.
          I could have titled this post "Houston, we have a problem!"  Even though the exact quote is different from what we heard in the Apollo 13 movie, but I didn't.  I didn't because I saw the excitement the boys had.  The same excitement I had as a boy.  President Kennedy say "We choose to go to the moon... not because it is easy, but because it is hard."  I hope that inspired something in my boys minds.  We don't want to do the easy things.  We want to do the hard things, the challenges that no one else thinks we will ever be able to accomplish.  We put a man on the moon with 2 MB of computing power.  With a group of engineers that had an average age of 26, and did not have the use of calculators.  That shouldn't have been able to happen, but it did.  I don't expect my kids to be perfect, and I hope they know that.  And I don't want them to focus on the negative.  I want them to see life for the possibilities that lie ahead.  I want them to understand that we are afforded freedoms and opportunities in the country that have never been available to mankind.  If they want to fly at over 10,000 mph, and be hurdled into space.  They can!  If they want to write a symphony, solve future energy problems, develop a new procedure to save lives, they can!  But shying away from the hard things will not get you there.  Not because it is easy, but because it is hard.  "One small step" at a time.  I hope that we can teach them that.