Kind: captions
Language: en
and now a birthday greeting from me to
NASA happy birthday NASA did you know
we're the same age in the first week of
October 1958 you were born by an act of
congress while i was born of my mother
in the East Bronx I was three when your
first astronaut orbited the earth I was
10 when you landed on the moon and I was
14 when you stopped going to the moon
altogether I was happy for you and for
America but the thrill of the journey so
vibrant and others felt out of my reach
I knew that my skin color was much too
dark for you to picture me as part of
this epic adventure of course I
shouldn't blame you for society's woes
your conduct was a symptom of America's
habits not a cause but I want you to
know that I became an astrophysicist in
spite of your achievements in space
rather than because of it you've come a
long way though today you look much more
like America from your senior level
managers to your most decorated
astronauts and when you're at your best
nothing on earth inspires the dreams of
a nation the way you do all and the
greatest quest there ever was the search
for our place in the universe NASA as we
both enjoy our 50th trip around the Sun
I look forward to seeing you back on the
moon but don't stop there Mars beckons
as do destinations beyond and that is my
cosmic perspective
you