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mike  ·  4087 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: TNG Podcast: Space -put to Video

Thanks for a great podcast guys, and a brilliant video production. Watching this brings back all these memories and feelings... as mk said near the end it's the feeling of standing at the edge of the ocean. Space makes us feel so small, and in the face of all this expanse you can't help but feel totally empty. And from this emptiness comes peace and a feeling of acceptance of your place in the grand scheme of things. Your mistakes vanish. We are so unimportant compared to this scale... and yet... we as individuals are still the most important thing of all. This dissonance makes me spin. I feel dizzy, high, inspired and lost. It's like being in love.

I watched the first moon landing as a 1-year old. Of course I don't remember it, but I do remember watching one of the last landings when I was 4. I grew up with space books, space ship models hanging from my ceiling. My dad was friends with Gordon Cooper. Being an astronaut was all I wanted to be.

I had a fellowship lined up with NASA during my senior year of high school. And then Challenger blew up and NASA cancelled their fellowship program, amongst many other programs. I ended up joining the circus instead. Huh.

A part of me is still out there. Private space travel is extremely exciting to me. I can only hope that I can be rich enough before I get too old. And if I'm very old before I can afford it... I think I'd like to die in space.