For a specific window of time growing up in America, the idea that a person had a shot at becoming an astronaut was a real thing. We were not told that we should excel in math and science so that we could be doctors or scientists but because we might become astronauts. We were entertained by futuristic television and film, where living among the stars was the norm. Space travel seemed inevitable, and with this cosmos of influence, who wouldn’t aspire to the stars?

Even if astronaut was an unlikely career outcome, it was touted as a possibility. I don’t know when this ”astronaut as realistic career opportunity” window opened, but it closed abruptly when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986. Since that time, the astronomical (no pun, of course) costs, the risk, the winding down of the Cold War and its bravado-powered spectacles, and the ho-hum feel of space travel immediately preceding the ill-fated Challenger mission (even if it was anything but routine) contributed to a dampening of enthusiasm for the entire ”spaceman” enterprise.

But for a brief period, the feverish feel of exploring space captured the imaginations of virtually every American kid I knew. Even if we didn’t care that much, it was still something we probably heard about at least once every few days without seeking it out.

Rewatching the 1983 classic The Right Stuff over Christmas this year with someone who was reared and educated in Scotland, I learned (and this should not be much surprise, I suppose) that the idea of space travel, a space program, the prospect of becoming an astronaut – all thought of such things – was not even on the radar for most kids in the UK. Never mentioned. Perhaps this is not universally true since it’s just one person’s experience. But on the whole it does seem that the interest in astronomy and space wasn’t really ignited for a whole lot of people who weren’t already actively interested in such things. Watching the film, this friend exclaimed that he had no interest whatsoever in astronauts or space travel, which seems unthinkable to me somehow. Even if I was never eager to join the space program myself, thinking about outer space and unraveling its mysteries was always a part of the educational landscape and daily life.