Amen to that. I had the stamp books that NASA put out, and they would send stamps from each of the different launches and test rockets. Coooool times.
I got a 5’ cardboard sit-inside Gemini capsule with control panel one Christmas (wayyyy cool), watched rocket launches in paused classes, took pics of our TV screen, built the Gemini and Saturn and Apollo/lander models.
Miss that feeling of awe and pride. Got some back just now!
It felt good when America was great.