Say what you will about all the politics congress injected into NASA and the SLS project regarding design and budget, but it's still an undeniably cool rocket. I woke my son up early on November 16th for the launch, and the sights and sound of the launch make you tear up a little and just cheer your head off.
There is something that draws our eyes skyward at night. The empty, inky blackness of space dotted with countless star systems twinkling down at us. It's captured the imagination of people for millenia. The fact that in just a few decades we went from the first powered flight to walking on the moon speaks to the ingenuity and indomitable hope of humanity. While we still have our many faults, and wage war and bring evil and suffering to the world, we are capable of so much more.
Here is to all the men and women who made this amazing machine possible, and watching my kids sit in awe and wonder of what we are capable of makes my heart soar. I hope we are able to be happier, treat one another with respect and love, and accomplish great things as my children grow up. We have to have hope and turn that hope into our reality.
It's cheesy, but that kind of inspiration is so important to us, and why we are paying homage to the space race with our space candle collection. It's a small reminder of the good in the world, and the accomplishments that are there if we work together for the good of mankind.