Fear of Flying

From the Associated Press this morning:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA managers put a brief but embarrassing
setback behind them as the countdown to the first space shuttle flight
in 2 1/2 years entered its final hours Wednesday, with only predicted
thunderstorms posing some concern.

A temporary window cover fell
off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles near the tail Tuesday
afternoon, just two hours after NASA declared Discovery ready to return
the nation to space for the first time since the Columbia disaster.

The mishap was an eerie reminder of the very thing that doomed Columbia _ damage to the spaceship’s fragile thermal shield.

Discovery and its crew of seven were set to blast off at 3:51 p.m. EDT on a flight to the international space station.

"It should not impact the launch time right now," said David Mould, NASA’s assistant administrator for public affairs.

So, if you’re afraid today of not having time to get everything done, or that someone might say "no" to you, or that your owners are going to be among the crowd watching you teach tomorrow, I only ask that you realize that maybe there’s some inspiration for bravery today.

I get ick-nervous flying for 90 minutes to Austin.

The Discovery Seven have had years to think about riding the bullet these next several days.

Heroes?  Yeah, sure … to some folks – their moms and little kids and dreamers everys where.

But, moreover, they top the y-axis marked "Guts" to follow their dream.

Next year my cousin, Lee, will be one of those seven.  My mom’s going down to the Cape.  She says she wouldn’t miss it for this world or any other.

I want to take my son.