Mr. Koichi

Our next door neighbor here in Houston happens to be one of the astronauts who launched into space last night on the Discovery space shuttle! His name is Koichi Wakata.....he is a Japanese astronaut who will stay on the space station for at least a few months. Liftoff was supposed to be Feb 12, but it kept getting pushed back for mechanical issues with the shuttle. So it finally happened last night. We always enjoy watching the shuttle lift-offs, but it was so neat that we actually knew someone on it! His little boy, Akio, is in 5th grade and I know was really nervous about his dad going up into space, because he remembers the Columbia disaster when he was four years old. I'm relieved for them that the launch is over.....I know it has consumed their lives for the past few months (at least!). I was nervous watching it, so I can't imagine how hard it would be for the families!

I wish Grant were a little older.....he knows that Mr. Koichi is an astronaut, and he knows what a space shuttle is, but he doesn't really understand what "space" is! So last night when we were watching it, I don't think he totally understood what was going on. But he's been really interested in space shuttles and astronauts lately. Something funny: he'll pick up white, rectangular-shaped objects (like baby wipe refills and white notebooks) and put them on my back, saying "it's an astronaut!"