Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions and powerful memories as I watched the launch of the NASA/SpaceX Demo 2 mission. With the first Shuttle launch my brother, parents and I watched on TV, cheering for the thrill of that beautiful vehicle defying gravity for the first time. We were allowed (even encouraged) to skip school a few times over the years for subsequent launches. And I remember the tragedies of a launch and a re-entry failed.

With NASA and SpaceX taking humans into orbit in a vehicle that looks like something out of a Hollywood film, finally, we are again in motion toward the planets and stars.

At the same time, we struggle with such basic, fundamental frailty, so much anger and pain buried deep inside for the injustices that remain in this world. We are at a critical time when this planet yet holds a hundred populations in relative isolation, as they have lived for thousands of years, and soon we will place boots on Mars.

How can all the variations that make us unique find a means to thrive? Will we learn to uphold the diversity of our species and at the same time embrace a new, unified goal that pulls us through these critical, transitional times?

I hope this and many more launches to come remind us what we have and can do when we are working toward a common goal.