My Goal Is Achieved!
When I was just a kid, I was intrigued by space travel. I loved the Rocketship to the Moon (later to Mars) ride at Disneyland. I watched every space mission on TV. I was in awe that my step-father, through his work at North American Aviation (later North American Rockwell and then Rockwell) was vital to every American space venture that featured human space travel, the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle.
I remember watching horrible little TV shows like “Space Patrol” (a soap opera in space based on a radio program) and “Commander Cody” (created from a movie serial) and went to every science fiction movie my mother would let me attend. RCA TV made a put-together cardboard space ship and a space helmet kit that I loved to play with. I think that helmet, in part, kept me fascinated with Heinlein’s juvenile novel, Have Spacesuit—Will Travel, one of the books (along with The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury) that gave me a love for reading.
When I was a kid I wanted to go into space. I still do. I hope space travel comes down in price enough that I can reach the stars before I’m 120 years old.
Well, I’m glad to say that I sort of made it into space. Here’s the proof:
