Last Shuttle Launch

A few minutes ago I tuned into the last shuttle launch. It's the end of an era, or as the quote on CNN's page says, the shuttle begins the "sentimental journey into history." I was not around during the Apollo era, but I imagine similar sentiments existed then, after the last moon launch.  For those of us Gen X'ers who all recall the Challenger's devastating explosion, the shuttle launch is something that is fresh in our minds as something that has always been around. We visited Nasa back in 1986, I believe, when we took the family trip to Florida. It was so soon after the disaster. The Columbia disaster also resonates as a tragedy. Though I think I recall President Reagan's words more clearly:

The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program. And what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.

We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.

The Cold War was not so subtle then; his call for freedom and exploration, with the crafting of Peggy Noonan's speech writing skills, makes this one of the best presidential speeches of all time. He honored the space program, and hopefully, further adventures will continue.