I hope I may be forgiven for congratulating the latest Shuttle crew (STS-112), in this particular forum, on a successful launch today after many delays. I know our American and Russian friends . . .and, come to think of it, many other nations . . . are accustomed to it, but the crew includes only the third Brit to reach orbit. Our government threw away our space programme in the late '60s
When 13-year-old Piers Sellers arrived at Cranbrook School (Kent, UK) in 1968, he told our careers master that he intended to become an astronaut. He went on to gain a BSc at Edinburgh and a PhD at Leeds (biometerology) which led him to join the brain-drain and end up with NASA at Goddard for many years. He was accepted for astronaut candidate (Ascan) on his third attempt in 1996, from a 2000+ applicant list whose CVs make many of us here look like primary school drop-outs.
Along the way he became a pilot and flew many of his own atmospheric research flights during his scientific career. He
even had to become an American . . .
. . . .
Right now he is on board Atlantis with five other exceptional crew members, chasing the ISS for a docking on Wed 9th. He and Dave Wolf will be carrying out the three "space-walks" slated for the mission.
We live in an age where so many folk believe that everything must be achieved almost instantly, or it is not worth the effort -- eg: "I wouldn't work for an airline that takes 10 years to command." (PPRuNe ad-infinitum). It took Piers 34 years to fulfill his ultimate ambition at the grand-old age of 47, and I hope he will continue onwards for many more years.
The best things in life are worth waiting for.