The Richter Scale^®

My family and I had a rare experience yesterday - we were invited to a friend’s home on Bonaire to meet former NASA Astronaut Charles Bolden. Charlie, as he asked us to call him, is on Bonaire with his wife and daughter as part of a week long visit to share his experiences - both on terra firma and in space - with children, teens, and anyone else interested, in the hopes that they will see that the sky truly is the limit in what one can accomplish if one works hard enough towards achieving one’s goals. 

Pictured above, in a photo by Bob Lassiter, are my family (Linda, Bas, Krystyana, and myself) with Astronaut Charles Bolden.

As part of his visit to Bonaire, Bolden will be announce the winners of several space related contests set up to coincide with his visit.

Never having knowingly met an astronaut before, we were pleasantly surprised to find Charlie to be a very warm, engaging, and just plain nice person. His friendly demeanor was even able to crack the usually shy facade our son Bas puts up when strangers try to engage him in conversation, and to my mind, that’s saying a lot. Charlie is sure to be a big hit with the schools he is visiting next week with his obvious charm and delight in sharing his world with children and adults alike.

The other thing which was unexpected, but in hindsight should not have been, was that Charlie was shorter than I had expected - and this was a common comment heard at the small reception we attended. One just assumes that someone who has exited the Earth’s atmosphere would be tall and imposing, but the hindsight comes in that U.S. Air Force pilots, and by extension, astronauts, have maximum height requirements due to the limited cockpit space and the extreme cost of space suits, which I understand to be produced to fit a limited range of body types.

My wife and I are pleased to have been able to help sponsor Charles Bolden’s trip to Bonaire, and hope that he will inspire at least a few of the youths on the island to reach for the stars.