From time to time, I intend to feature posts by other writers on my Across The Universe blog over at The Guardian. They will either complement or balance my own views. This is the first one. Today, NASA celebrates its past with a memorial for Neil Armstrong. Here, Google's Zahaan Bharmal informs us of something amazing, also happening today, on the International Space Station that points to the future.

"There comes a day in a man's life, a sad day, when he realises he will never fulfil his childhood ambition of becoming an astronaut.  For me, that day was August 6th this year, as I watched in awe as Curiosity touched down on Mars.

Curiosity will, I hope, not be the last rocket to travel to Mars. It will lead to another rocket, and another, that will eventually lead to the first manned mission to Mars. The first human footprint on another planet.

The sad truth, that struck me watching Curiosity land, is that these footprints will never be mine. I am too old.  The first man or woman to one day walk on Mars is, today, a child. They are a young boy or girl, most likely a teenager sitting in a classroom somewhere in the world. ..."

Read the full story here.