Fifty Years ago...

On today's date, fifty years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human into the blackness of space in his Vostok One capsule. It is hard to believe that we, as a collective race, have been in space that long, and it seems how little we have achieved...as a science-fiction writer and lover, it is heartbreaking to see the lack of progress and the weak wills that people seem to have for the Space Program.

However, the bravery of people like Gagarin and the people that came after him into space, should never be questioned...

It is my hope that day, we think about the Space Program, and how we must continue to push out as our numbers grow on Earth. I wanted so badly as a kid to walk on Mars, drive the sands of Mars, and see the stars from the windows of a starship...sigh...I guess I can win the lottery and pay the Russians for a trip up to orbit. It seems that we have just dipped our toes into the pool of space, and we are still standing there, in our bathing suits and water wings, seeing if the water is right...waiting.... 

I leave with a quote from Q of Star Trek: The Next Generation:

"If You can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid..."