Rocket Man

She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
It’s lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I’m a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it’s cold as hell
And there’s no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don’t understand
It’s just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time… (Elton John and Bernie Taupin)

Cape Canaveral is a different kind of place to live. Looking to the north I can see the Space Shuttle, poised and pointed to the sky. Liftoff scheduled for ten minutes from right now. To the East sprawls the Atlantic Ocean. And all throughout the area, space industries languish in a metaphorically setting sun. Later in the day, I will be on my bike and I will pass by The United Space Alliance – USA for short. And everyone I see today will speak fondly and sadly about “our Space Shuttle Program.” Directly or indirectly it affects everyone here, and in its demise the effects promise to be less than hopeful – especially for the local inhabitants and local economy. To all those living around here it is hardly conceivable that future visits to the International Space Station will be accomplished aboard a Russian shuttle. And American astronauts will have to travel to Russia to make any trip into space.

Excuse me for a moment while I walk to the balcony to watch the lift off.

Perfect! First plumes of smoke spew from the base of the rocket; then with a bright yellow-orange flame the mighty monster leaps into the sky. Finally, an unearthly rumble shakes the atmosphere as the spacecraft streaks overhead and to the east. In a matter of minutes the rocket appears as a glint of reflected sunlight as it disappears into the blue, yet for several more minutes the rumble throbs, throbs, then gently recedes into the background noise of everyday life.

I know that life must move on. The Shuttles are old and costly. But where is the vision that created this event. Where is the leader with the will to say that we shall send a man to the moon and return him safely the earth? Where is today’s voice that encourages us with such admonitions as “We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard”?

Perhaps it was never practical to send humans into space. Perhaps the Shuttle Program was never going to return dollar for dollar the monetary investment placed in it. But maybe we gained something through our willingness to stretch, to strive, to reach beyond our immediate grasp. Maybe there are things more important than what can be measured in dollars and cents. Today, I heard people cheer as the Shuttle Endeavor cleared the launch pad. This afternoon I will hear them speak in mixed tones – excitement over a perfect launch and sadness over the ending of an era. I will hear of more job layoffs and people looking for different avenues of work. I will hear a few, like Patty and me, hoping against hope for another step, another golden age of exploration, another flood of excitement as we start to build craft to take us beyond the moon and into the space of infinite possibility. – Bob Tatum

Sound Traveler had a quiet weekend. We played at the Baccalaureate service at Faith Lutheran for Edgewood Junior/Senior High School, and we prepare for Writer’s Night at Nolan’s Irish Pub this Thursday. But mainly we begin to prepare for our migration to North Carolina to begin our summer performance series there. We hope to reconnect with many old friends and share some of the great experiences we’ve had down here this winter season. However, for those of you in Florida, don’t worry, we’ll be back soon. You will find us back here during the first week of August ready to begin it all again.

To respond, click on the title of the post, scroll down, and blast off!

3 Comments to “SongTravelin’: 05.16.11 “And I Think It’s Gonna Be a Long Long Time….””

• May 16, 2011 at 8:52 am
  Lawrence says:

  Don’t get so worked up about a piece of equipment. We don’t drive Model T cars today. We don’t travel around in horse and buggies. The Shuttle’s days are nearly done. If someone has a better idea, it will see the light of day. But we need a better reason that “because it’s there” to spend taxpayer money on a program with so little observable benefits.
• May 17, 2011 at 6:15 am
  Patty says:

  I grew up following the space program very closely. As a child living in Orlando, my family and I would watch each launch on TV. Just as soon as the rocket would lift off, we would run outside and look to the east. If weather permitted, and it often did, we saw it rise above the trees. Many times, we could even feel the rumble that I love so much.

  Now, in our beach paradise where I’ve been blessed enough to live for 7 years, I look to the north and see the launch pads. The night before Endeavor’s launch, the liftoff site was beautifully lit. Being able to see the shuttle clearly through binoculars from our own balcony is an amazing feeling, and I just can’t believe it’s coming to an end.

  Yeah, it feels like ours, for good reason. One of our neighbors is a shuttle crane operator. A parent of a former student “lights the candle” on some launches. The lucky ones get invited to “VIP” launch viewing sites even though we aren’t VIPs (I got to go to a night launch once as a VIP, and it was amazing – I saw it and felt it at the same time!). The not-so-lucky ones worry about the layoffs that come all too frequently. Heck, the Mexican restaurant down the street even has a “museum” of photos and artifacts from the Apollo days that they’ve collected through the years.

  For us, it’s not just a rocket. It’s a way of life. It’s definitely personal, and we’ll be sad to see it go. We wait in anticipation to see what’s coming next.
• May 23, 2011 at 11:18 pm
  Ellie says:

  Looking forward to seeing you both back here in the mountains!