Astronaut, Age 5

Astronaut, by me (at age 5)

I found this drawing of mine in a box a few months ago, lovingly packed away by my mother. I drew this at the age of five (yes, the astronaut is me. The glitter and sequins really make the piece.) It’s now framed and hanging in my office, alongside three space artworks of mine from high school, a picture I took of Space Shuttle Columbia landing, and a signed picture of Gene Cernan (Apollo 17) on the lunar surface.

I was lucky enough to catch Cernan’s book signing for The Last Man on the Moon at Johnson Space Center in 1999 — limited to JSC employees (and LPI interns with enough security clearance for the cafeteria and employee store.) If you bought the book at the employee store, they threw in a free 8×10 photo, which Cernan also signed.

Maybe by the time I go to the moon, they’ll have those gold-glitter boots!