Did any of you watch the launch of Endeavor last night? There is something about watching a mission launch into space that is simply exhilarating. I cannot explain it.

Since I was a child, I have watched them with great interest, especially when the shuttle used to land at sea and great ships used to race to its location to retrieve it before it sunk. Greater drama has never been filmed, in my opinion.

Now that I live on the East Coast of Florida, the launches from Cape Canaveral (about 100 miles south of Palm Coast) are even more special because I can walk to the end of my driveway, look south and watch the space shuttle’s engines light up the sky. Last night’s launch was not only breathtaking but unique because it was a night launch, perhaps the last of its kind.

Of course, NASA has overseen great success and huge failures in the pursuit of space travel. It is hard to believe it was 48 years ago, President John F. Kennedy promised America would land an aircraft on the moon. Neil Armstrong, a native of the same community in which I was raised, accomplished the feat in 1969.

Armstrong is remembered most for the words he uttered as he stepped onto the lunr surface, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But he said something else that was a mystery for years. Just before he reentered the Lunar Lander, h e made the enigmatic remark, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.”

When he returned to Earth a hero, the news media wanted to know the reason for the comment, and the identity of Mr. Gorsky. Many thought Armstrong
might be referring to a Soviet astronaut, but found none by that name. Armstrong refused to answer for personal reasons.

When asked about the comment twenty-six years later, Armstrong brought an end to the mystery, noting that Mr. Gorsky had died and was comfortable revealing the origin of the comment.

It seems that the Armstrong family moved frequently when the astronaut was young, but in one of the neighborhoods he lived there was a Gorsky family who lived next door. Young Armstrong was playing ball in the back yard when he had to retrieve an errant throw from the neighbor’s yard. He collected the ball beneath the bedroom window and overheard an argument inside.

“Sex? You want sex? You’ll enjoy sex when the neighbor kid walks on the moon!” screamed Mrs. Gorsky to her husband.

The rest is history.