I was always an astronomy and space nerd, but really got the bug in ‘99 after reading a slew of books from Mercury through Apollo. Then, I was thunderstruck to read Gordon Cooper’s narration of Biblical themes during his 22 solo orbits in Faith 7. (Try naming a spacecraft that today.) Also, the Tom Hank’s series “From the Earth to the Moon” has numerous gems. Watch “Spider”, the story of the lunar lander development. As a child, I couldn’t appreciate the monumental accomplishments and vertical learning curve that got us to the moon. It was great rediscovering it as an adult. Landing on the moon in 8 years was divinely supported, especially the Apollo 13 miracle.
Shuttle didn’t do too much for me.
As a child of the 70s I missed all of this. However, I watched the launch of Columbia in 1981 with Bob Crippen and John Young and was hooked ever since.
I wanted to be an astronaut. I studied physics and astronomy in college but was unable to finish due to financial circumstances. But I’m still a huge space buff to this day.
When my kid was five, my wife asked what he wanted to do when he grew up. He said he wanted to work at NASA building rockets. That year, she made him a rocket shaped birthday cake.
Buzz Lightyear and October Sky were some of his early favorites followed by The Right Stuff and Apollo 13.
Fast forward a few years. She made him the same rocket cake for his 22nd birthday. The next day he graduated as an Astronautical Engineer and he works at NASA.