“So, you got summer plans?” John asked me as he cut my hair.
“Actually, we do,” I said. “We just made a motel reservation in Florida for the last Shuttle launch.”
He was silent for a moment.
“What do you mean, last?” he asked.
“The last Shuttle launch. We’re going to try to see it.”
“But what do you mean the last launch? They’re stopping the Shuttle?”
“Yes.”
I was nodding. He was silent again.
“You mean for all NASA?“
I wasn’t sure how to answer the question, but I knew what he was trying to ask.
“The Shuttle flight in June will be the very last one.”
“Ever?”
“Ever. There will be no others.”
“But … how will … what about getting astronauts into space?”
“The plan is to launch them on Russian rockets.”
He was silent yet again.
“Wow,” he said. “I didn’t know that.”