Tin Cans On Bombs.

When I think of the first Wright Brothers flight being just a scant 100 years ago, maybe it doesn’t seem unusual that we have gotten this far.  The chance for a regular guy who had no chance of being an astronaut actually getting to make just about the same trip that Alan Shepard took in 1961.

 

 Alan Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 Capsule for a suborbital mission that took him 187Km or 613,517.06 Ft above Earth. Last year I took a tour of the original launch site of Freedom 7 at Kennedy Space Center.  This is a picture of the original launch site was.  Gus Grissom and Alan Shepard both launched from this site.  Such primitive tin cans balanced on the tops of bombs. 

The Space Ship II Flight will go 110 Km - 360,892 Above Earth.  Not quite as high, but who’s counting.  I'm sure my flight will be much more comfortable and safer than the first.

I talked to a couple of people who flew on the Concord back in the day.  The maximum cruising altitude for that aircraft was 60,00 Ft.  My sister in law was one of those people, she told me about being able to see the curvature of the earth and finding that experience transforming.

So, as number 722 I wonder if there will be anything for me to express as an artist from my experience.