It was a normal ending of a normal day on a spit of land protruding into the Atlantic Ocean.  But on this normal day of breezes and clouds and sunsets the not-so-normal doings of this primate known as man would punctuate the evening with a brilliant "sunrise".

As we precisely counted down the seconds, I found myself asking just how - merely a few short millions of years after standing upright - did we find ourselves standing on the doorstep of the Universe, insistently knocking on the door?  

Yes, indeed!  Just how...

And, then, as turbines shrieked, as clouds roiled and boiled across the bottom of the sky, as every species in sight was jolted from the busyness of their lives to turn and look, Discovery dared the unforgiving forces of nature and rose upon the broad, roaring shoulders of Hell's minions subdued to man's purposes by an engineer's throttle.  

Claps and cracks of thunder chased Discovery skyward as it sought a doorway called ISS floating on the edge of forever.  

And, once there -even as they build the door- Discovery's intrepid crew will peer into these few moments of eternity and ask, for all the creatures on this fragile blue orb, "Why?".

Good voyages to you, Discovery.  Would that I could be there with you to look upon the face of the deep and wonder.