space cadets

On the way home from school Son asked if we could go to space. I explained that space is very very far away. Like, if we went in an aeroplane to space it would probably take as long as his whole life so far to get to any decent planet. And when we got to a planet it could either be so cold we’d just freeze or so hot we’d just melt, so we’d want to go with someone who really knows their way around space to know which planets are good to visit. I told him that even the stuff you breath in space is different to oxygen, the stuff we breathe here on Earth. So we'd have to take oxygen with in those special space masks. Or in a rocket, he suggested. Yes, I agreed, rockets are especially designed for people to go to space. And they fly much faster than aeroplanes, I continued, so it is definitely better to fly to space in a rocket... But the tickets on rockets are very expensive, much more expensive than a ticket we buy for an aeroplane ride to Jo’burg or Cape Town. So if you want to fly in a rocket you either have to be very rich and have lots of money, or, if you are very clever, you could become a rocket scientist and you can build your own rocket. I’m very clever, he said, not missing a beat. Yes you are, I concurred. So you could become a rocket scientist one day if you want. He liked that idea. But in the meantime we can practice building rockets, I said. Can we do it today? He asked. Absolutely, I said, let's try build one when we get home.

Lying in bed reading books (The Little Prince, most likely), Son looked to his dad and asked, can we go to space? We’ve already been, replied Daddy Robbie. We often go. In your rocket over there. We visit the aliens, go to all the different planets, check out the moon...