Red and blue floods illuminated servers in formal attire. A live jazz band set the mood. Cheese, cheese and more cheese was piled on glass slabs suspended from high metal frames by thin wires, leaving an impression of weightlessness. More servers walked around with hors d’oeuvres and glasses of red and white wine. The front most table was festooned with more appetizers and drinks that were arrayed around ice sculptures. Where was I?

I wandered around the room, trying to accomplish the “mingling” mission suggested by the MIT press office. The left side of the room was lined with posters detailing the work of students and faculty within the Aero/Astro department of MIT. I stopped now and then to listen to and talk with students that were noticeably excited to be there. The event was a periodic recognition (this being the 40th anniversary) of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Just as much though, this gathering was a celebration of the role that MIT played in America’s space program. Throughout the hall, there were many older gentlemen wearing the school’s red tie or name tags with their program and year of graduation. Never before have I personally witnessed, in one place, so many that could and should be called heroes. It was nothing less than a gathering of old friends and colleagues from the dawn of manned space exploration.

Eventually an announcement was made; a warning really. There was to be a demonstration at the far end of the hall of the new TALARIS system, which uses propelled air to mimic conditions at 1/6 the gravity found on earth’s surface. The goal of TALARIS is to work out the bugs of a new probe designed to hop around the surface of Mars or the Moon to reach and explore terrain that would be inaccessible to a wheeled rover. The fellow who performed the introductions soothed the crowd by stating the noise would be “no louder than your average disco.” Righty-O. All of the students setting up the demo fixed goggles over there faces, prompting some nervous looks from the swelling crowd around the test platform. Needless to say, TALARIS floated with expected grace and the goggles were not necessary. Not this time.

The music continued and the piles of food were much reduced. The minute hand continued to describe its inevitable arc and the crowd began to thin, even around the likes of Buzz Aldrin and Chris Kraft. This crowd was in celebration mode, but I still sensed that everyone felt the weight and thrill of what is left to be done.