End of an era

Yesterday marked the end of an era. The last shuttle flight touched down and signaled the end of direct government involvement the space program. I slept through the double explosion of the sonic boom that seemed unique to the shuttle as it came over my house (or near enough anyway) in preparation for landing at Cape Kennedy a couple of hundred miles away (by car).

I have never witnessed a shuttle launch, or landing, from up close. Like most of you, I have only seen it on TV. That is in spite of living close enough to travel to the Space Center easily. Every time I have tried, the launch got scrubbed. In the early days of the space program I lived in the area of Cape Kennedy, in Merritt Island, even had a brother-in-law who worked there as a fireman. Yet it wasn't until the early 90's that I visited the Space Center.

When I was living in Merritt Island, I did note some launches of satellites but it was the mid-60's and there was no shuttle program yet.

I suppose I'll regret not having been a witness to any of those launches.