the whole space shuttle is an amazing vehicle and we look at it as the eighth wonder of the world. >> the liftoff of aries. >> would i necessarily be on the next program? maybe not, but the fact that the work i've done on this program, you know, in my history, would make me a viable candidate for the next program. knowing now that we don't have a next program standing there to step into tomorrow, for me, it's a little bit frustrating because the united states has been the leader in space for many years. >> go ahead and walk out here. you don't realize that a few people in the world get to do this because you look down at the main astronauts. >> we had the 401 system. so you save for your retirement and the last couple of years those 401s took a severe beating. >> we get to see a couple of our spacecraft operators. yeah. >> are you kwas working today? >> i'm 61 years old now.