Spaaaaaaaace!

I got to see the space shuttle today! Did not realize that it was doing a flyabout. I thought it was just going from Florida to Dulles, so it would look like a little tiny dot to us in DC. Not so. They took this thing on a farewell tour(like the Spice Girls!), one last ride before it goes into the Air and Space Museum (not at all like the Spice Girls). I am guessing we caught it right as it turned around in NorthEast to go back down the Potomac to the National Mall - It looked like it was going to land on the roof of the business school building! It was close enough to us that we could see the dirt/discoloration on the outside of the shuttle.

Totally looks like...

 Now, here are some thoughts:

1. Everyone has a small part of them that still wants to be an astronaut when they grow up. I was standing on Leavey roof with people from an office and the university medical center. I was the youngest person there. We all let out a big collective giddy squeal when that thing swooped down over us.

 2. Seeing a national historical artifact in flight is...really, really awesome. We should strap more national treasures to 747s and fling them around major cities. Washington Crossing the Delaware? Neat. Washington Crossing the Delaware duct taped to a flying jet???. Infinitely more awesome.

3. The Discovery is ancient by technology standards. It was built in the 80s. Think about the computers we were building in the 80s. Now think about riding one of those clunkers into space. Yikes. I went on Space Mountain once at Tokyo Disney and it scarred me for life. Cannot imagine- and don't really want to imagine- what it would be like to go into Actual Space in something made when Madonna was relevant and neon unitards were socially acceptable.

4. The only way that #spottheshuttle could have been cooler would be if Zombie Tupac had been performing on top of it.