Call me a NASA fan-boy

Having spent the better part of last week at the Goddard Space Center, all I can say is . . . wow.

Not to sound too jingoistic, but it's hard not to talk to the scientists, engineers, and technicians there and not come away feeling good about America. (And just to note, many programs have foreign participation.) Goddard is the best and brightest on steroids.

For me, one of the signature moments came early on when I saw gear you'd pick up at the local Home Depot in the high-tech clean room where the deep-space telescope is being built. Granted, there were some very high-tech gadgets in the room as well, but the juxtaposition emphasized that so much of space exploration is not about tools but about imagination and creativity.

I got about three hours sleep total last week, but it was definitely worth it. And maybe some day I'll figure out if the guy in the astro-biology discussion meant it when he said some scientists would claim clay is alive.