I’ve been in Washington D.C. at the National Science Foundation for the last couple of days, moonlighting as government help. I head back to Syracuse tomorrow, assuming all goes well. Today, I slipped out for a quick bathroom break just in time to hear from the television outside the room I’m in:

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, …”

Yes, I was lucky enough to emerge at precisely the right moment to watch today’s long-awaited shuttle launch. The sight took me right back to being a kid and watching from a classroom at school as the first shuttle, Columbia, took off. I recall being completely engrossed in it and was wondering whether kids in school these days get to take a few minutes off and watch when something like this happens (I guess I could have kids of my own and find out, but it seems like so much less of a hassle just to ask other people and do without the ankle snappers). Do teachers have such flexibility nowadays?

I was in (a different) school and watching again five years later, when Challenger was so tragically destroyed on takeoff.

Having just arrived back at my hotel room, I now see that there are reports that some debris may have been seen falling from the shuttle after takeoff. Here’s hoping it isn’t serious and that all possible technology is brought to bear on figuring out what, if anything, the debris was.