The SpaceX liftoff is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday afternoon. It is the first time that we’ve launched people into space using a commercial aerospace company, that Elon Musky fellow. It will happen down there near Cape Canaveral. I like the way that name sounds, like something SuperHeroes, would wear on special occasions — their Cape Canaverals. But it is not. It is part of a spacey-type complex down on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. About midway down the coastline — a part of a region known as the Space Coast. There are two separate places down there: the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. Many U.S. spacecraft have been launched from both and the two are sometimes conflated with each other. Tomorrow’s launch is from the Kennedy Space Center.
The last time NASA sent a crew up in an entirely new vehicle was in 1981 with the launch of the sparkly Space Shuttle. The last time it took off from American soil was 2011. And now, we have the new SpaceX machine, tomorrow.
I wonder if going up into outer space “feels” any easier today than it did for the first astronaut aboard Vostok 1 — Soviet Yuri Gagarin? He was the first human to go up on April 12, 1961. He flew around the Earth for 108 minutes. So I wonder if space travel is like cars. Those first motorized automobiles weren’t the smoothest of rides, some of them didn’t even have windows or windshields. The seats were stiff, and there was absolutely no suspension in those first Model-Ts.
So when Alan Shepard took off in the Freedom 7, back on May 5, 1961, was that rocket ship a terrible rough ride like the Model-T? I’m just curious how it feels today in the SpaceX machine? Is it like riding in my BMW? With big comfy seats?
Anyway. Up they go, all those men and women over the years. As of April 9, 2020, a total of 566 people from 41 countries have gone into space — according to the FAI criterion (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale). They have all looked back and viewed Earth, getting smaller. The ball-Earth, not the flat-Earth. As they make their orbit around, they see our big blue ball, not the pancake.
I saw a funny meme the other day. It said something like, “Flat-Earthers are worrying that all this social distancing will push some people over the edge.”
I didn’t feel any shame in laughing at that one.
Yes, space and all its wonders. Earth, spinning right through it. This ball with its 24,873.6 mile-long circumference. I wonder how much better, if any, the astronauts can see the other planets too. Earth is the fifth-largest. The planets in order from largest to smallest are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury. And then there’s the dwarf planet, Pluto. I’ll always call her number nine.
It amazes me that 7.5 billion of us fit on this place. And life started here so long ago. It first sprung up, or sprouted, or spewed, some 3.8 billion years ago. But, according to scientists, Earth is at least 4.5 billion years old. Think of it. Nearly one billion years of no life, just a big round rock, floating peacefully. Yes, it is mostly made out of rock — a terrestrial planet. The other terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Oh, and Pluto. Those others? Gassy, gassy. Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus.
Here’ another thought, when you consider outer space. Every one of us is a space traveler. We go far, in fact. The Earth’s orbit around the sun is 580 million miles long. And we do that every year. Frequent flyers.
So, always remember to keep your feet planted firmly on the ground. Which sits loosely on the four layers below: The inner core, the outer core, the mantle, and the crust.
Or, if you don’t feel like being grounded, jump high in the air, and reach for the stars, like the SpaceX guys. Earth’s gravity will always bring you back. Like an old friend, pulling you in. The thing to remember, is that all our feet, all 7.5 billion pairs, have every right to be here. We are Citizens of Earth. We were all born here. Then we will die here.
And then there are all those days in-between.
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“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”– Babe Ruth
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“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”– Soren Kierkegaard
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“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” — Helen Keller
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“Keep calm and carry on.” — Winston Churchill
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