Government shutdown comes for me personally

I think I have mentioned that I missed my chance to see Mission Control when my father took us on a tour of NASA when I was five. Evidently, Jerry wanted to bond with my brother, so when I followed them he pushed me gently out, stating, “They don’t let girls into Mission Control.”

I don’t remember reacting with anything but soft, sniffly tears. Mom distinctly remembered me shrieking and hurling myself to the ground.

So, since I read that NASA rehabbed the ’60s Mission Control as a museum exhibit, I have wanted to go back. I took steps last month to get to Houston. I have more than enough air miles to pay for the plane, car, and hotel. There’s a guided tour one can take. I was about to pull the trigger.

At the same time, I heard there was an imminent government shutdown. I made no connection between the government and NASA. You just don’t think of astronauts as government employees, but they are. Luckily, I woke up at two a.m. one night and thought, “Hey, isn’t NASA the government?”

Happily, the museum is separate from the rest of the Space Center, but I wanted the Fancy Guided Bells and Whistles Tour, which has been suspended.

Lucky I didn’t buy a non-refundable first class ticket. It has been almost sixty years. I suppose I can wait a while longer.