Because it Flew

It is still hard for me to believe that the last Space Shuttle went up last week.  I guess I always knew that one day technology would evolve, and the need for another form of space transportation would be necessary.  I wasn't alive when the United States put the first man on the moon, but my older sisters and my mother retold this historic event with great emotion.  They explained that my great grandparents, who were born in the late 1800s, had travelled with their Airstream (silver bullet shaped motor home) to Florida so they could watch this historic launch live and in person.  I get goose bumps considering what they witnessed in their life time.  They were born into an age of horse and buggy, and lived to watch man launch himself out of the earth's atmosphere.

Years later, when I was an adult, I visited Cape Canaveral and stayed in an older 1960s vintage hotel.  The floor of the swimming pool had a space themed mosaic inlaid in the cement.  I remember bobbing in the water and trying to imagine the excitement others, who visited there twenty years prior, must have felt.

Yes, the space race was a proud moment of achievement in this country.  Can it be that we have reached the point that we will be without a space shuttle of some kind?  I cannot believe it.  What is even harder to believe is that we will be paying the Russians to shuttle our astronauts up to the International Space Station.  Could President Kennedy have ever imagined such?

Needless to say when I found the following I was excited and wanted to share it with others who teach their children.

 NASA, USA Today, Americans for the Arts, and National Institute for Aerospace have joined forces and are offering an art competition.

They've included a fun and active lesson plan to get your children thinking and helping them to  understand the historical and scientific significance of this 30 year mission.  

Here is the link - Because it Flew

If this glimpse into history has you wanting to revisit more...

President John F. Kennedy's "Let us be the 1st to put a man on the Earth" speech can be either read or listened to here.