Looking at the stars at night

Jim Mattingly

November 29, 2012

During the 50s, I grew up on a farm in Kentucky. I had an uncle that was only a few months older than me. The two of us, sometimes other cousins or friends, would go camping during the warm summer months. We would lay and look at the stars and wonder what was out there. I tried to learn the stars, but my only source of information was the school library which was only available during the school year and being in a farming community it had very limited information on the stars. So I became a science fiction nut. I read every book in the library and watched every movie and SF series I could on TV. The more I watched the more my passion for space grew. Maybe thats why I joined the Air Force in 66. I watched ever launch NASA showed on TV. I was glued to the TV when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. I was a Trekie long before the word existed. Even today at age 65 I still love space with all its potential. I hope to live long enough to see man go back to the moon and on to Mars.