I was only a kid, wide-eyed and awe-struck when Gagarin was shot up into space

TV was new, and the news patchy at best, but there was a smile on my face

I had read science fiction from being just eight, and this news was simply the best

for man would now, soon be reaching the stars, the last, undicovered big test/

Mymind was awash with the dreams of what could be, at that age my fire was intense

never  understood why progress was so very slow, for space travel made perfect sense

So many people excited to think that human feet would soon be stepping on Mars

then, who knew how far the adventure would take them, onward to istant stars?

ime passed, I grew older, the fire less bright, as i realized it could not happen soon

thoughhope soared again in that wondrous mission that sent  men to walk on the moon

but more years went past, and man seemed unable to accept that space invitation

instead we elected to build ourselves instead an orbiting, super spacestation.

The sace shuttleslooked futuristic and sleek, once again deep space travel was muted

but the simple facr is that we are defeated by distance that can’t be disputed

Until a propulsion system isfound that can get us near the speed of light

the stars will remain an unresolved dream, work toward it as hard as we might

The last Chalenger luanch brought a lump to mt throat, thinking over the past fifty years

the thrills of those orbits, the tragic deaths that caused so many lost, bitter tears

My lifetime may end before man reaches Mars, even going on toward thatnext star

but I remember well, the hopes and ambitions the sputnik lit in us all from afar

When the shuttle has landed, one era will end, and the future is still quite unclear

but one thing is certain, humanity holds that sense of adventure too dear

not to go where none has gone before, to seek out that far, unkown place, 

just beyond that event horizon, somewhere out there in enticing deep space