Discovery's Night Launch

Watching last night's launch of the space shuttle Discovery, I was struck with how improved the photography of these launches is - the shots of the booster rockets separating are startlingly clear. But I was also reminded of how my family used to drive from Orlando to the beach to watch the later Apollo launches. Sitting on the roof of our car watching the Skylab launch in 1973, I was 100% sure we'd have cities on the moon by now. Silly, huh? My sister took her kids to Cocoa Beach this weekend. Family tradition and all that. I wonder what those kids expect.