Space Cowboys

In my effort to stay on top of current events, I have been reading updates on the Discovery daily. Apparently there was falling debris, similar to the debris that led to the demise of the Columbia, on lift off. I have never been one that was in awe of space travel and astronauts. Even when we went to the Kennedy Space Center on our sixth grade class trip, the only thing I worried about was not throwing up on the multi-axis rotating thing that they strapped me to. Oh, and trying some of that space ice cream, that was the cool thing to do. But I've been thinking about it, and these people are in outer. space. They talk about returning to Earth, like they are the chosen ones sent out on a mission to explore life on other planets. Okay, I guess they are not going to other planets, because that would lead to death, but they are the chosen ones sent out on a mission to explore what lies beyond the Earth's atmosphere. This blows my mind. Why would anyone ever sign up for this job? No way, not me. I'm afraid to walk up a flight of stairs that doesn't have a bar or wall on the sides of it. Why would anyone sign up for this job after what happened to the Columbia just 2 years ago? Essentially, their aircraft disintegrated upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. How scary is THAT? And another thing, how is it possible to land on a pre-determined place on the Earth's surface? Think about how small the Earth seems to them. Think about how small the United States will seem. Think about how small Florida will seem. And think about how small the Kennedy Space Center will seem. They are scheduled to return to Kennedy on August 7th. AND something else, who are the crazies that sign up to live in that Space Station for extended periods of time? Seriously, they must be bored out of their minds. Thank goodness the Discovery connected with them this morning. I wonder how long it has been since they've seen other human beings....