One Giant Leap

by Kay Simone

“I know you care about us. Most people who make it into mission control and behind an officer’s desk don’t see us as people anymore. We’re talent or resources. But you… I don’t know. You’re not afraid to talk to me about loving the stars. You’re not afraid to be afraid for us. It’s easy — even for me — to forget that I and my crew aren’t just components of this shuttle. But every day that I talk to you, you remind me why we’re doing it.”

“Humanity is nothing without the individuals who make it up,” Patrick says.

"The sky from earth," Curt says. "Sunrise and sunset. Rain. The fucking atmosphere in general."

"I don't know how else you can explain the fact — the solid reality — that out of every century on earth, out of every epoch, with every different combination of atoms and cells and situations — out of the sheer chaos of the universe, you and I just happened to exist on the same planet at the same time," Patrick says. "If that's not luck, those are some pretty incredible odds we just beat. What's thirteen years compared to the whole history of the galaxy?"