This is who we were, once upon a time in America [View all]

I grieve for what we've lost.

Whether I deserved it or not, by chance I was in the VIP viewing section of Mission Control during this historical flight. I went on to participate in some small way on the first four test flights of the space shuttle.

Those were the glory days.

Some day, many years after this orange catastrophe, maybe we will regain our place in the world as leaders and beacons.

But not today.