That Final Frontier Thing

We took the boys out the other night to see the space shuttle and International Space Station. The shuttled had undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) earlier that afternoon and both were briefly visible orbiting in tandem. We were so excited to introduce space exploration to the boys and really talked it up that day.

Except, really, their eyes kind of glazed over when we tried to explain the International Space Station thingamajig.

I had to leave right after the sighting, so we drove to the end of our street where we'd spotted a crowd gathering to witness this historic event.

Until we got to the end of the street and realized it was really just a kids' football team ending practice and we were the only space nerds there to witness this historic event.

Kids these days...they think space shuttles are a dime a dozen. They hear "moonwalk" and they think of Michael Jackson.

Okay...I do, too, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, as thrilled as our boys were at the chance to go outside after bedtime, sit on our car roof and look for this thing called a space shuttle, I guess it was so dark they didn't hear me count to three and tell them to smile...

An astronomy teacher at Brian's school sent out a message earlier that day that he believed there were only six more shuttle missions planned and that this may have been the last opportunity to see the two orbiting so close together. He told us to look for two bright white dots that moved briskly towards the northeast.

So, after just a few short minutes of watching the dark Texas sky, we suddenly noticed two bright dots appear.

And while the dots were a lot more visible to the naked eye, I tried to capture the historic moment with the camera. Good to know that if I'd been unable to find the dots in my lenses, I could've later just snapped a pic in a dark closet and declared it a space shuttle photo.

If you wipe the dust off your monitor and look really closely while squinting, you might see the two dots placed vertically in the pic. I prefer to remember it in my heart.

Two flying objects. The vast outerness of space. The Final Frontier.

I leave you with something to ponder..."Space is almost infinite. As a matter of fact, we think it is infinite." Dan Quayle (Whoe maye stille be ponderinge this.)