Reflecting On The End Of An Era

I just finished watching the movie, "Apollo 13".  It's not the first time I've seen it and definitely won't be the last.  I consider it Ron Howard's best directorial effort.  The performances are so moving that I never fail to sob at the movie's closing scenes even though I know the final outcome.  For me, the most touching portrayals are given by Ed Harris, Gary Sinise and Kathleen Quinlan for their characters must endure the waiting on earth.

In the spring of 1970, when the events took place on that fateful Apollo mission, we experienced all the drama along with the rest of the U.S. and the world as we waited to learn what would happen to astronauts Lovell, Swaggert and Haise.  Whenever I watch this film, I am reminded of those long days and the relief and elation we felt when they returned safely to earth.

For twenty years, we lived only fifty miles from Cape Kennedy (Canaveral).  There were many mornings we were awakened by the "boom boom" of the shuttle as it re-entered earth's atmosphere so close to our home, causing me to sleepily respond, "Shuttle's back."  And we were witness to many launches we could see from our back yard.  We'd watch the countdown on TV and, as soon as we heard the words, "We have lift-off", we'd hurry outside and wait until the spacecraft cleared the horizon and we could watch it climb majestically into the sky.

Then there was that morning in January, 1986, when I watched the Challenger vapor trail hang in the wintry air all day.  Usually such trails disappeared shortly after launch but, on that disastrous day, it remained almost as a testimony to the lives that were lost.  It is a visual memory that is still vivid and emotional.

These sense memories began back in 1969, as my husband and I pulled off the highway to view Apollo 11 as it left the Cape carrying the first men to land on the moon.  There wasn't a single car moving on the busy turnpike that day.

I guess that's why I was so sad to watch the televised video of the final shuttle landing yesterday.  It brought to an end an era of U.S. exploration that we must be certain to teach the next generations about.  My daughter, who now has teenage sons, wasn't even born when the drama of Apollo 13 occurred.  But she was raised, as was her brother, to appreicate what the space program meant to our country.  Our explorers were the first on the moon, weathered tragedy as well as triumph, and exemplified the best of what the United States can achieve.  That's what I hope we teach our children and grandchildren.  Watching "Apollo 13" would be a great way to introduce it to them.