Seven Minutes or what I refer to as “Awesome!”
For Sunday dinner I made my husband’s and son’s favorite: roast and potatoes with gravy and green beans and muffins. While we dined, we watched the news. Mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena was nervously awaiting for a signal from the Mars Phoenix Lander probe. (They refer to it as “seven minutes of terror” because it takes that long to transmit anything.) It was so exciting. I couldn’t help but think of that summer in 1969, with families gathered around their black and white televisions, awaiting the news of Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
I have long held a love of space. In third grade I told my parents I wanted to be an astronomer someday. So much for that dream. So tonight as I was hopping up and down with anticipation, I said to my 5 year-old, “You should be an engineer for NASA someday! Wouldn’t that be neat?” He looked at me and replied, “Well, when I grow up, I am going to be a dad someday.” What a sweet boy. I still think he should also consider NASA.