On Monday, August 6, 2012, the United States completed a mission to send a robot device to another planet! Mars! Can you even fathom that? I thought that it was a very big deal for us to land and walk on our moon some 43 years ago. Now, we've gone into outer space and landed on Mars. Mars! Did that really happen? Yes indeed! The idea seems to be that one day the "red planet" could be inhabited by Earthlings. That won't be accomplished by this Thanksgiving, but it's definitely in the works.
Congratulations to NASA, Johnson Space Center, the JPL, and especially to my friend Jason and his pals who contributed their efforts to the astronauts' many trips to the Space Station. It's just an incredible time to be alive. The horse-n-buggy days that my grandparents lived in seem like a very, very long time ago.
Maybe you saw the specially designed open-face Oreo cookie that was made in honor of the Mars landing. The cookie was covered in red icing and tiny tire tracks ran across the top of the cookie! What's next?
Bluegrass content: I imagine that if you pushed the right button on the robot, it would play "Out Among The Stars" or "Vincent" (also called "Starry, Starry Night") or "Blue Moon of Kentucky," and a special cabinet would be well-stocked with...ready? Mars bars! What else?
HISTORIC NOTES: Neil Armstrong (age 82) departed this life to join his fellow astronauts 'out among the stars' on August 25, 2012. He planted the first footprint and the American flag on the moon. "One giant leap for mankind!"
Sally Ride (age 61) died July 23, 2012.
Columbia exploded February 1, 2003
Challenger exploded January 28, 1986 (Larry Rice's "Star-bound Heroes" is a fine tribute to Challenger!)
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died in a fire on the launch pad January 27, 1967
Remember all these 'star-bound heroes'.
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