For those who lived through the '60s, it was a decade of tragedy and triumph.

The often deadly quest for civil rights for Black Americans was a battle well worth fighting.  

The tragedy of Vietnam for those of us in uniform, (personally, I was on active-duty Navy and Marines from '65 to '75), tore a generation asunder with many, too many, peers blaming the warrior for the war.

But as the sage of a generation, Kurt Vonnegut, would say, “so it goes” and over time healing began.

However, the one truly unifying pride all felt during that fractious decade was the world class and very public and dramatic American scientific and engineering quest to meet the great challenge of President Kennedy:

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

Using ingenious creative thinking and slide-rule mathematical calculations, that is exactly what happened, and along that journey, the famous can-do phrase introduced in 1961 -- that everything is “A-O.K.” was often used.

Now another “A-O.K.” space moment was just created by Elon Musk and his team of engineers and scientists.

A revolution in space launch occurred on Oct. 13 on the Texas Coast. The SpaceX team with skill and the audacity to dream big captured a massive 20-story booster as it broke away to return to the launch pad for reuse.

The consequences of such a brilliant endeavor is truly revolutionary.  A reporter for a T.V. program from India called “The Breakfast Club,” saw that right away.

Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor of “The Breakfast Club” excitedly reported on Elon Musk’s scientific and engineering accomplishment in capturing a 20-story reusable booster rocket.  

The reporting on the event is truly thoughtful fact-based journalism that accurately describes the massive achievement of SpaceX ambitious plans.

What is noteworthy is the clip also shows the SpaceX team’s heartfelt pride in their accomplishment. In essence, a team led by a visionary consisting of a diverse crew of scientists, engineers and technicians, all a product of a meritocracy-based selection process, made history and were joyous in that moment.

With candidate Donald Trump and Elon Musk teaming up to win (hopefully) the upcoming election, the words of President Reagan giving comfort to America when the Challenger exploded come to mind:

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

Both men are certainly not faint-hearted.

Now compare the demonstrated performance in space launch by SpaceX with political hackery of a group of California virtue-signaling luddite bureaucrats trying to shut down Musk’s vision for space on their turf^:

Elon Musk‘s SpaceX rocket company has sued the California Coastal Commission, alleging in federal court that the panel’s members are biased because of the billionaire owner’s conservative political views, according to papers obtained Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, alleges “unconstitutional overreach” by the commission after members criticized Musk’s political leanings during a meeting about whether to approve more frequent SpaceX launches off the California coastline.

“Rarely has a government agency made so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO,” SpaceX alleges in the 45-page lawsuit.

I hope all in America on election day will vote for former President Trump, and not the hollow phony-baloney contrived politics of 'joy' by his opponent.

Time to make America A-O.K. again.

Ed Timperlake, USNA '69, was a carrier-trained Naval aviator Marine fighter pilot and during his graduate work at Cornell was a research assistant for the Science Technology and Society Program.