Going to the Moon

© 2003 Boaz Rauchwerger

During the five years that it took to complete the paperwork to come to America from Israel, I got the feeling as a little boy that that move was like going to the Moon. Other immigrants understand what I’m talking about. No matter how much criticism the United States gets around the world, I don’t believe the visa lines to come here are getting any shorter.

This country, to many people worldwide, is still considered the pinnacle of freedom and opportunity. That’s how my parents saw it. That’s why they did everything possible for us to immigrate to America in 1956.

I was reminded of those thoughts the other day as I was driving over a drawbridge and the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway in Florida. I had flown to Orlando to conduct two seminars and had an afternoon free. Being so close, this was the perfect opportunity to see one of America’s great strengths – the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral.

The Space Center is located about 35 east of Orlando on a virtual island. As I passed the Astronaut Hall of Fame, I crossed the Indian River to reach the visitor complex. Down a portion of the island is the Banana River and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean.

KSC, as the center is depicted in signs throughout the area, is located on the East Coast of Florida about halfway between Jacksonville and Miami. It represents a combination of technology and nature in 140,000 acres of discovery. It was in 1975 that Congress designated nearly half of the Space Center as part of the Canaveral National Seashore. KSC shares its property with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

As I mentioned, my family immigrated to the US in 1956. President John Kennedy was elected in 1960 and he declared that we were going to the Moon.

Perhaps there’s an important goal in your life that you’ve been thinking about for a long time. Maybe its time to declare that you’re going after it. Write it down, state a completion date, identify the steps and take the smallest possible step first. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.

As I got closer to visitor’s center at KSC, I could see two tall towers in the distance. These, I later discovered, were Launch Complex 39A and 39B, where the Space Shuttle is launched. Then there was the gigantic 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building.

At the visitor’s center, along with a moving memorial to the astronauts that have lost their lives in the space program, there is full-size mockup of the Space Shuttle. Talk about courage – when the Shuttle lands, it glides to earth. No motors are running. There is only one chance to land. No opportunity to fly around and do it again.

A bus takes guests from the visitor center at KSC to the Apollo/Saturn V Building, which features the rocket that took Neil Armstrong to the moon. On the way to that building, the bus wound through restricted areas of the Space Center. We got up close to the landmark Vehicle Assembly Building and the Launch Control Center.

The Vehicle Assembly Building, when it comes to volume, is the second largest building in the world. The largest is a building at the Boeing plant in Seattle where the 747 is assembled. The Assembly Building is imposing. However, I can’t even imagine the view as the vertically positioned Space Shuttle is rolled out on a gigantic tractor and moves along the well-traveled crawlerway to the launch pad.

The viewing stands are nearby. They are over three miles away from Launch Complexes 39A and B. That is because, when fully loaded with fuel, the explosive power of the Space Shuttle at launch could be quite dangerous to anyone close by.

Along with the dreams of a nation, everything is large at the Space Center. The bus stops at the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where the space race of 60’s and the first landing on the moon take center stage. As I stepped in the building, the sight was staggering.

There, a few feet off the ground, was the 363-foot moon rocket, stretched horizontally through the full length of the building. Just to give you some perspective, that’s twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, longer than a football field, twice the height of the Space Shuttle, and the length of nine 40-foot tour busses.

If you were an astronaut, in 1969, headed for the moon, just imagine your cabin on such a huge vehicle. Your seat, along with your two companions, is in a small capsule in the end zone. Standing vertically on the launch pad, the rocket below you stretches the entire length of a football field. When fully fueled, that Saturn V Rocket contained the explosive potential of an atomic bomb. This was the largest vehicle ever flown.

I gained an even greater respect for America on my visit to the Kennedy Space Center. I also realized that that landing on the moon in 1969 did not happen overnight. It all began with an idea. And then people of vision and courage took one step after another. There were many hardships and challenges along the way. However, they kept their eyes and minds on the goal – they were going to the Moon.

Is there figuratively a moon landing in your future? Maybe this is the moment to launch that dream?

A Daily Dream Affirmation

I have identified an important dream in my life and I am launching it today.