The countdown reached ten seconds and I could almost hear an invisible crescendo of stirring background music. 'Anchors aweigh!' Five, four, three, two, one... and we had ignition!

I was a child of World War Two . I saw films of pilots taking off from aircraft carriers and decided that was the only thing I wanted to do. And it had to be flying from sea carriers. Airfields were not enough.

Mom was always doing something for somebody. She came from a Czech background, one that made her a devout Catholic and gave her a strong belief in the family.

I was almost ready to leave him out there with three, four or five fouls. For someone that hot, it's almost a shame to take them out.

Today, we are on a path of decay. We are seeing the book close on five decades of accomplishment as the leader in human space exploration.

There are two sides to every story, and sometimes three, four, and five.