Mission Journal 35 — Craig McKinley: Mission Day 8: Monday, October 18th, 2004
For me, the last couple of days have been life changing.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to two astronauts currently traveling at Mach 25 on the space station.
Today, I had the opportunity to speak to Michael DeBakey, a pioneering cardiac surgeon.
This evening, I had the opportunity to speak to my wife and daughter, the most important people in my life.
And for the last ten days, I have had the opportunity to get to know 5 of the finest people I have ever met.
It is clear to me, more now than ever, that the richness of any moment comes from the people in that moment. While technology may enable us to experience moments of unusual magnitude, it is the people in those moments that make them rich.
From this I have come to believe that where ever human kind explores, whether it be in the frontiers of medicine, the frontiers of our terrestrial world, the frontiers of our extra-terrestrial world, or our own back yards, we can not take the humans out of human exploration.
While our technology may enable us to explore our universe, it is the exploring human beings who will make that exploration rich and therefore meaningful.
As Neil Armstrong pointed out “That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind”.