When I was just a kid, I was intrigued by space travel. I loved the Rocketship to the Moon (later to Mars) ride at Disneyland. I watched every space mission on TV. I was in awe that my step-father, through his work at North American Aviation (later North American Rockwell and then Rockwell) was vital to every American space venture that featured human space travel, the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle.
I remember watching horrible little TV shows like "Space Patrol" (a soap opera in space based on a radio program) and "Commander Cody" (created from a movie serial) and went to every science fiction movie my mother would let me attend. RCA TV made a put-together cardboard space