we are all astronauts

project hail mary

i'll never do a space walk in a foreign solar system. i'll never make contact with an alien. i'll likely live and die here on earth. i'll never be an astronaut.

but for some irrational reason, i believe that if i do meaningful work, work that pushes humanity forward, then in that pursuit, i am that astronaut.

when he's doing the walk, i'm right there alongside him. or, not next to him actually - he's standing on my shoulders, on all of our shoulders.

every inch of progress is an inch that stacks up to get him to orbit. to get him to another planet. to get him to another sun.

he will be there because of us. because of what we built. because of how hard we toiled and experimented and laid it all on the line to get him there. to get all of us there.

in that moment, we are all astronauts.