It looks like NASA will be proceed with the launch on July 4 of the Space Shuttle Discovery. It will be the first time that a launch of astronauts has taken place on Independence Day. Let’s hope that it proceeds as the astronauts hope. Imagine getting on that giant rocket twice and have it called off.

I had a very good friend who was very involved in Space Science Education, and he invited me to a launch of the Space Shuttle in 1981. In fact, I remember watching the return of the first space shuttle on TV in the 1970s. We forget that the Space Shuttle has been NASA’s ride into space, and the technology was worked out over 30 years ago. At launch, the sound of that the rockets produce is unbelievable. Not only the ground rumble and shake, you do too.

The other day on TV, one of the networks had a piece on Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon. It was an impressive piece. Armstrong is quick to point out that circumstances put him in the position of being first on the Moon. He was asked was inspired him to say the words” One small step for man, One giant leap for Mankind.” He said he made it up as he was thinking about his first step, which would be a very small one to the surface of the moon from the ladder; the giant leap was his way of praising the 400,000 (that’s the number he used) people who made the “step” possible.

But my real reason for writing about Armstrong is to mention our all time favorite movie, The Dish.

The Dish is about the Radio Telescope in the town of Parkes, Australia. “In the days before the July 19, 1969 space mission that marked humankind’s first steps on the moon, NASA was working with a group of Australian technicians who had agreed to rig up a satellite interface. That the Aussies placed the satellite dish smack dab in the middle of an Australian sheep farm in the boondocks town of Parkes was just one of the reasons that NASA was concerned. Based on a true story, The Dish takes a smart, witty, comical look at the differing cultural attitudes between Australia and the U.S. while revisiting one of the greatest events in history.” You’ve got to see this movie.

I hope everything goes well for the astronauts tomorrow.