To Boldly Go

I find myself anxious as the shuttle prepares to return to Earth tomorrow. As we all know there has been more than one tragedy in Earth's fledgling space travel history. I find each shuttle launch and return a fascinating historical benchmark which we hardly take notice of anymore. I remember as a kid how exciting it was for the shuttle to launch. Nearly everyone would stop what they were doing to watch. Now it's hardly a blurb in the newspapers unless of course there is suspense and danger as with the return of the Discovery. I have to wonder why we've lost our wonder about the shuttle. The Challenger and Columbia crews risked and ultimately gave up their lives to go to space. Why can't we stop and watch and perhaps dream of how it would be there in the final frontier.