The dream of space thrives

When I was young, the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo launches out of Cape Canaveral were family television events without parallel.

There was a sense of awe surrounding those NASA missions, culminating years later in the triumphant moon landings. We followed every one, minute-by-transfixed-minute, on a big old black-and-white TV with four legs, rabbit ears and an outsized wood-veneer cabinet...