In the footsteps of more giants

shadows of taurus-littrow …

I remember Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon. He never imagined that it would take the United States this many years to return to the surface. But it has. And until his last days on earth, Gene was committed to seeing another leave footprints in the fine dust of the lunar surface.

The Apollo 17 commander even challenged those next steps. He advocated for our return. He did not want to be the last. For budget reasons, he wanted the mission cut short by the end of the iconic Apollo era to continue. The Apollo 18 capsule and launch vehicle that was scheduled to follow became instead a museum exhibit at Spaceport Florida’s Visitor’s Center, an exhibit I got the privilege of helping my friends from NASA, Chuck Hollinshead and Arnold Richmond, oversee.

Gene was the consummate space professional. An explorer, a fighter pilot. An adventurer. A space enthusiast. An American through-and-through. Gene was an easy-to-approach space explorer and a hero, with no pretense and tons of Americana coursing through his veins.

Growing up on the space coast of Florida and working for an astounding member of Congress who flew in space and represented the Kennedy Space Center, I had the pleasure of getting to know quite a few of America’s moonwalkers. They knew no geographic boundaries. They were part of a brotherhood that cheered a sisterhood as well. They knew no limitation of gender, ethnicity, class, or nationality.

I even knew all of the Mercury Seven astronauts except the legendary Gus Grissom, who passed away in the tragic capsule fire aboard Apollo One. Alan Shepard was a board member for one of the ventures we shared. I worked for John Glenn when he ran for president. God, I wish he would have won. When we first started dating, Scotty Carpenter was the first to tell me that my future wife was interested in me. Thank you, Lord, Scotty knew what he was predicting that charity evening.

I was fortunate to be there when STS-1 rolled out to launch pad 39-A. I witnessed the launch commanded by John Young and piloted by Bob Crippen. I cheered and cried in the stands of the VIP center at Kennedy Space Center. Walter Cronkite and I shared stories over the emotional goosebumps these guys gave us. As a congressional staff member, I marveled at the opportunity to go behind the scenes of America’s space program and kick a little space shuttle tire.

As an alum of American University, I remember John F. Kennedy’s challenge to America to go to the moon before the decade was out—and we did. Neil Armstrong placed those tiny footsteps for man and one giant leap for all humanity.

As the CEO of the Astronauts Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center, I celebrated years later with the crew of the first joint mission in space, General Tom Stafford, Vance Brand, and Russia’s Soyuz crew members Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov.

Space was my passion. The advances in technology have brought all of us. The medical improvements that came from experiments on orbit. Because of the little things in life spun off from these missions to the stars and unknown.

The Challenger crew were friends of many. My friend, Bill Nelson, trained with them as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS 61-C before his flight. I still remember their faces from training sessions in Houston and those of many of their families who anguished over their loss a few weeks later. I still remember the day after Challenger perished when Bill received a personal note from his training mentor, Dick Scobee, congratulating him on a completed mission.

I remember the return to spaceflight mission when Discovery returned to orbit years later. It was intriguing to listen to America’s anchors, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw, marvel at a reception just before about what this mission represented for our nation. They were heroes in their own way.

And now, as I watch, in wonder, as the two-man crew of SpaceX’s Dragon takes flight this May afternoon, I can’t help but ask: Will they make it? Can we return to space from American soil? Will we get back to the moon again? Can we venture on to Mars? Beyond?

Can we follow in the footsteps of Giants?

I certainly hope so.

I pray so.

When I worked on helping pass Florida’s first commercial spaceport authority legislation, I never honestly imagined it would lead to this week. A large group of committed enthusiasts envisioned it, but envisioning it doesn’t necessarily make it so. Jeb Bush inspired this effort, along with Bill Kristol, who expertly staffed George H.W. Bush’s space council in the Reagan Administration. I can’t thank them enough for letting me go along on that journey as a young space research and memorial executive.

Godspeed, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. We are watching history. We are celebrating you and SpaceX. We are celebrating the American pioneering spirit.

We are celebrating bringing the stars a little closer!