I am not much for collecting dozens and dozens of apps on my Android phone. In fact, other than the ones that were pre- installed, I have only a few, 6 of which are local and international news sites. Two apps, Skype and Duo, are critical for for me to have live face-to-face communication with my Sweetheart overseas, and my daughter in Washington, DC.
The only game app I have, Sudoku, has provided mindless entertainment when I needed a diversion from the stress of being at the hospital, or when I lay awake at 2am unable to sleep. I appreciate the app offered by my town to remind me which day to take out the trash. Shutterfly, a site to order photos and make gifts from pictures, along with GetUpSide, a company that offers cash discounts at gas stations, are also apps I regularly utilize.
Merlin, a bird identification guide developed by Cornell University, is an educational and fun app I’ve used while observing the “virtual aviary” in the backyard. I added this one day when Daddy and I were trying to decide the differences between a Cowbird, Blackbird, and European Starling.
The remaining app on my phone is for the International Space Station, or ISS for short, and this one is the focus of my thoughts today. Over the past several years, I’ve had many different ISS apps, trying out various ones as my mobile phones died and I switched between iPhones and Android platforms. But this one is very user friendly, and is now my favorite.
There are multiple versions of ISS apps, all by different developers and with various features. The particular one I currently use offers live feeds from the ISS, plus it gives the exact position of the space station and it’s continuous path around the earth. As I am typing this, the ISS is on the dark side of the earth, east of Papua New Guinea, travelling at 7.66 km/sec. By following the trajectory of this path, in a few minutes it will encounter sunrise just northeast of New Zealand over the South Pacific Ocean. The next significant land mass it will pass over will be the very southernmost tip of South America, crossing over Chile and Argentina.
I must REALLY sound like a space nerd right now. No, I didn’t care for Star Trek. I related more to Mork and Mindy. Star Wars was an important part of my high school years. I vividly remember standing in line for hours waiting to see the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” shrinking across a field of stars fading into the distance, with John Willian’s famous Star Wars theme filling the theatre with the now iconic bars of music teasing our senses as a preamble to what we were going to experience.
My first exposure to ANYTHING space related was Mom and Dad’s memory of waking me up to hold me in front of the black and white TV on July 20, 1969 to watch the first lunar landing. I vaguely remember this, and perhaps the memories are only because of Mom telling multiple times throughout my life that they “pulled me out of bed” to witness this historic moment. Maybe I subliminally paired that with the dozens of times I’ve seen the replay of the grainy footage on television documentaries and films… and one dovetailed with the other. But it is forever etched into my psyche as my own, personal experience. I saw the first lunar landing with my parents as it happened, and watched that all important first step….. “One small step for man…”
Over the past few years, as Dad’s health failed, I continually sought out experiences to enrich his life. Covid-19 restrictions limited visiting and engaging with friends and family, while his diminished mobility eliminated other potential activities. So….. we often looked to the heavens! I downloaded the ISS app, and if weather conditions permitted and the ISS was passing over before 10pm, Dad and I would go outside on the driveway to watch…..and wait….. Who would see it first? What would the trajectory be? Would the trees obscure our view?
“Is it time yet?” I would ask. Daddy, sitting in his Lazy-boy recliner, would pull back the cuff of his bathrobe to look at his trusty Seiko watch. “Yes, it’s time to go!” he’d reply. He would slowly steady himself on the edge of his chair to reach for the handles of his walker. As he stood and stretched his back so he could start moving, I would walk ahead of him to hold open the back door. Just as he’d reach the door, he would turn to abandon the walker, hold the storm door handle for support, and grasp for the back of the patio chair as he moved past the door’s threshold. Always within reach, I monitored his forward progress, and positioned myself at the top of the 2 steps leading off the deck. I patiently waited for him to grab for the handrail he’d built himself so he could stabilize his 5’6″ frame as he slowly descended to the flat sidewalk.
A rollator, or walker with wheels plus a built in seat, was kept to the side of the deck steps for convenience when Dad was mobile outside of the house. By the time Dad stepped onto the concrete sidewalk below the last step, I’d shifted his rollator so he could easily grasp the handles and continue down the walk.
Around the end of the house, and down the driveway we would go. The neighborhood was built in the 1960s, so the trees are tall and full. But the front yards of a few houses adjoining our property have no trees, so this clear area offers an open, unobstructed view of the sky. I was thrilled when Dad would spot the ISS before me! We would both watch it, commenting on it’s brightness, how fast it was travelling, wondering if the occupants were looking down at us as we marveled at their flight path.
Sometimes, depending on the outside temperature, Dad and I would gaze at the stars, searching for Orion’s Belt or the Big Dipper. Then, we would turn to make our way back to the house, one small step at a time. Our ability to identify constellations was small, but our enthusiasm and child-like wonder of it all was immense.
Earlier this week, when I discovered the ISS was making a pass overhead, I wanted to share the excitement with someone…..but Dad wasn’t in his recliner ready to go outside in the dark, cold night to watch with me.
I watched the flyover alone. No one could have taken the place of Daddy beside me on the driveway. I feel so blessed that, because of the ISS app, Dad and I shared some wonderful moments. It was an experience we shared, and treasured, time and time again over the months preceding his death. It was OUR THING to watch the ISS.
It took so much work, effort and determination for the engineers to build and launch the Apollo rockets and the space station….thousands of small, seemingly insignificant steps were required to complete the process, but each one was important. Likewise, it took many small steps, a lot of effort and hard work, for Dad to reach his 94th year….and to reach this spot on the driveway. This spot, where we looked up together to see the tiny, bright speck of the ISS coursing across the sky, is where priceless memories were made. Thank heavens there was an app for that!
Cary to Calcutta 
Heartwarming story!
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One of your very best!
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