I Just Wanted To Be The First

I Realized Up There That Our Planet Is Not Infinite. It's Fragile. That May Not Be Obvious To A Lot Of Folks, And It's Tough That People Are Fighting Each Other Here On Earth Instead Of Trying To Get Together And Live On This Planet. We Look Pretty Vulnerable In The Darkness Of Space.

Later, In The Early Teens, I Used To Ride My Bike Every Saturday Morning To The Nearest Airport, Ten Miles Away, Push Airplanes In And Out Of The Hangars, And Clean Up The Hangars.

Then I Thought, With The Same Clubhead Speed, The Ball's Going To Go At Least Six Times As Far. There's Absolutely No Drag, So If You Do Happen To Spin It, It Won't Slice Or Hook 'cause There's No Atmosphere To Make It Turn.

But When I Was Selected, After My Very First Tour Of Squadron Duty, To Become One Of The Youngest Candidates For The Test Pilot School, I Began To Realize, Maybe You Are A Little Bit Better.

When I First Looked Back At The Earth, Standing On The Moon I Cried