Good evening from Michigan. As I sit here preparing for our interview tomorrow with August's Future Astronaut of the Month Club winner on The Live Launch Podcast, I cannot help but to be overcome with excitement. As a person I have always been a bit eccentric when I get excited about something. Throughout my childhood, space was a romanticized thing of the past. Yes, we still possessed the ability and technology to travel in space; but it was no longer pursued as it was in decades past. We still had movies though; I have several vivid memories at an early age from watching the movie Apollo 13. My mother often regaled us with memories of cereal and splashdowns. She recalls countless occasions remembering those days concisely; and rightfully so. The Space program used to be a part of our culture. At one time, you weren’t cool if you didn’t watch the rocket launch or the capsule splash back down. What I would give to have been a fly on the wall in my grandparents house.
There is no way to truly express how wonderful and important I believe this program is. Children are the future of all of us. It will be their destiny to harvest the fruit of our labors. Whether good or bad; this is something we need to prepare for. We need to leave them more than we have in every way possible. To leave them with more technology, more sources of sustainable energy, and most importantly more hope; that would be a smallest token of our love to leave them and this pale blue dot we call home. I have children of my own. It more clear to me now than it ever has how important this is. It is my opinion that the future isn’t just ahead of us, but it’s above us. It’s all of our atmosphere beyond. With this program we hope to not just inspire, but to stoke the flames of inspiration. In hopes by planting interest, nurturing curiosity, and sparking a passion for understanding they will be the ones who walk us into the future.