I regret never seeing a Space Shuttle take off.
I need the Space Program. I need to see with my own eyes something made by man get blasted into the grand cosmos. I have always believed that space will be conquered in my lifetime. I have always believed that one day I'll watch a man step on mars, watch the dust rise and get blown by the alien winds of the planet; that one day I'll hear of a healthy little boy born in a new world, the first of his kind; that one day I can die knowing that man has fulfilled his destiny in reaching the stars.
I've been trying to objectify the vague feeling of loss I felt since realizing that today was the final launch of Atlantis. I realized it's because I've never watched the launching of a space shuttle live, and now, I never will. Of all the things Id've wanted to see, this was the only thing that was possible now. And now, even this is gone.
With no more shuttles, and no real concrete follow-up plan, the state of the space programis disheartening. But it is not hopeless. I am nothing if not optimistic, and I still believe.
(Today in tumblr was the first time I was able to experience the space shuttle launch in real time, thanks to blogs like It's Full of Stars and Science & Fiction. That's a good enough consolation, I guess.)