Rockets Red Glare

The same thing seems to happen every year.. the fourth of July absolutely sneaks up on me. For me.. a "holiday person", the kind that has to celebrate every holiday in full, decorations and all, it can be hard for those that sneak up on me. It means no time to plan my decoration schemes, last minute runs to the store for my annual apple pie, and of course the purchases of all manner of explosives.

For our family, our traditions are pretty set in regards to Independence Day... we take advantage of a day off work to rest and relax at home and then head over to "Fireworks Bridge" as it is referred to year round, to stake our claim for the evening fireworks show in Harrisburg. As always, I am totally blown away by what a quality fireworks show our little community can pull off, and the display was outstanding, despite poor Little Calvin getting burned in the eye, while getting a little over zealous with his sparklers. Ouch!

But this year, the holiday was different than most. This year, there was an odd buzz in the house that just has not been there in past Fourth of July celebrations. Why? Because this year, I could finally return to my "space geek" roots and enjoy a space shuttle launch the way I used to as a kid.

I have seen many shuttle launches in my day, each one different in its own way, each one spectacular. I don't know what it is that just gets me, whether its the fire, the explosiveness, the danger, or simply the power to explore the universe in reality, not in movie mode. I have seen the televised launches many times, I have seen a launch live and in person (what an amazing site THAT is) and I have vivid memories of the Challenger incident that shook us all, so many years ago.

But what seemed really fun, was the early shuttle launches, the ones back in the day when the shuttle was brand new and the whole country was mesmerized by the idea. I remember as a young kid, happily waking up a 4 AM to watch all the national coverage. It wasn't just the launch.. it was the whole process. From the suiting up of the astronauts, to their arrival at the orbiter, to the launch prep, to the final launch. Sure, it took hours to see the whole process. But when the shuttle finally launched towards the sky (typically at around 7 AM in the time zone I grew up in) it was the culmination of a whole process, not just a singular event that I could catch on CNN in passing.

Over the years, as the shuttle launching became more of a routine and as the launches looked more and more of the same thing, the focus shifted.. just another take off. Why bother with all the details.. Did it make it off the ground safely? Good. move on.

Yesterday, however was cool for several reasons. For one, whether standing on a warm sandy beach in Florida watching a live launch, or sitting in front of my TV, I just love watching a launch. And, this was the first one I was able to watch with Little Calvin, now a space nut himself, having inherited all of my space posters and shuttle models that he proudly displays in his room. This was an opportunity to do things the way I once did: To not just turn on the TV for 30 seconds to watch it quickly go up, but to go back to enjoying the entire process once again.

And so, early in the morning, the coverage began... although now brought to us via the Internet. Again, I got to enjoy the suiting up, the strapping into the shuttle, the system checks, listening to the astronauts communicating with ground control doing their various tests, all in preparation for the final mid-day launch. Yes, I had my concerns this time around, with some top NASA engineers disputing that the shuttle was ready. But how great was it to once again watch the fire, and explosiveness of the shuttle firing off the launch pad, heading towards space, with a 5 year old sitting next to me, knowing the process, but still asking a million questions at his typical 900 mph speed. "When do the rockets fall off? When does the external tank fall off? When are they technically in space? When do they lose gravity? Why can't they land today too?"

It was just one of those "me as a child, meets me as a grownup" kind of surreal experiences, realizing how much I have learned over the years, but how little I have changed, and how much of the child like wonder I still love to enjoy.

So to the team at NASA and the crew of STS-121: Thanks for restoring my enjoyment of the space program, and making my Independence Day just that much cooler. Sure, fireworks are amazing, but nothing beats that Rockets Red Glare.