“I saw the strangest sight tonight. I was on my way home, the night hot and heavy, the way it gets here this time of year so that your skin is shiny and your shirt is never dry.”
“When I was in the third grade I wanted to be president. I can still remember the stricken look on my teacher’s face when I announced it in class. By the time I was in the fourth grade I had decided to be the president’s wife instead. It never occurred to me that I could be neither because I was Black.”
“I guess I should explain how Mars missions work, for any layman who may be reading this. We got to Earth orbit the normal way, through an ordinary ship to Hermes. All the Ares missions use Hermes to get to and from Mars. It’s really big and cost a lot so NASA built only one.”
