Posted by
Lisa Original on Saturday, May 05, 2007 4:18:19 PM
I was just thinking about Wally Schirra's call home this week....
I remember when I was in parochial school that the good Sisters of St Joseph would wheel TVs into classrooms, suspend the lesson plan, and allow us students to watch the launching of the manned spaced missions. Talk about exciting! And, the names of the astronauts were household names. They were real heroes in a time when most of America was proud to be American, and we knew we were the best because our guys walked on the moon, for cryin' out loud!
Do kids today know the names of any astronauts, or even check in on the NASA television broadcasts during school hours? This is not a rhetorical, cynical question - I really don't know if school kids are tuned into the space shuttle missions, outside the two major disasters, and the occassional looney that gets through the screening process. I do know that I am disappointed that there never seems to be time in news braodcasts, or space in newspapers (even the virtual versions) to follow today's missions closely enough to make today's astronauts household names, let alone heroes.
I often lament that the 1960s ruined this country, and maybe the moon-landing program and the men who went, and the countless geeks who made it happen with new-fangled computers and slide rules, are the exception to prove my rule. In any event, another of my childhood heroes has joined the ranks of the departed. Godspeed, Wally Schirra, and thanks for making us so proud to be Americans!