Quote:It's minus ten and counting, and soon she will be gone,
That shining stub-winged angel that we've pinned our hopes upon.
And even as she waits she seems to strain to touch the sky.
It's minus ten and counting, and we wait for her to fly.

CHORUS:
It's minus ten and counting, and time is passing fast.
It's minus ten and counting; will our next choice be our last?

It's minus ten and counting for the plan that gave her birth;
The plan that will determine if we ever leave the earth.
Will we choose to throw the plan away, forget our need to know?
It's minus ten and counting; will we stay, or will we go?

CHORUS

It's minus ten and counting for the world on which we live.
We're swiftly using all this lovely planet has to give.
The pressure builds, and soon the chance to escape will pass us by;
It's minus ten and counting: will we grow, or will we die?

CHORUS

Quote:Remember the Fifties – those fat complacent days
When the future seemed a century away.
Then up went Sputnik, gave the world a butt-kick,
And made it clear Tomorrow starts Today.

CHORUS:
Beep-beep, boop-boop, hello dere! (Hey jupa!†)
Sputnik sails giggling through the skies. (Hey! Hey! Hey!)
Red flags, red faces, jump in the race, as
The Space Age begins with a surprise! (Surprise!)

You generals once thought Von Braun a waste of cash,
And Goddard needed treatment really bad.
Then that global shot-put gave you the hot-foot,
And, beep-beep, you're blasted off the pad.

CHORUS

Done for a threat, propaganda, or prestige –
The point is, the thing was in the sky.
It made generals frown, and put money down,
And meet that bet or know the reason why.

CHORUS
That's how it started, all those years ago;
The push that got us climbing into space.
Cynic beginnings, greed for big winnings --
But look at all we've gotten from that race!
CHORUS

Old Sputnik wore out and spiraled back to Earth.
On re-entry it burned up very soon.
Hail and goodbye to that upstart of the sky…
And in twelve more years, a man walked on the moon.

CHORUS
Surprise…
And the Space Age begins with a surprise!

Quote:Prometheus, they say, brought God's fire down to man,
And we've caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began.
Now we're going back to heaven just to look Him in the eye;
And there's a thunder 'cross the land, and a fire in the sky!

Gagarin was the first, back in Nineteen Sixty-One,
When like Icarus, undaunted, he climbed to reach the sun.
And he knew he might not make it, 'cause it's never hard to die;
But he lifted off the pad and rode a fire in the sky!

Yet a higher goal was calling, and we vowed to reach it soon,
And we gave ourselves a decade to put fire on the moon.
And Apollo told the world "we can do it if we try",
For there was one small step, and a fire in the sky!

Now two decades since Gagarin, twenty years to the day,
We've a shuttle named Columbia to open up the way!
Though they say she's just a truck, she's a truck that's aiming high!
See those big jets burning, see her fire in the sky!

Now the rest is up to us. There's a future to be won.
We must turn our faces outward; we will do what must be done.
For no cradle lasts forever; every bird must learn to fly,
And we're going to the stars! See our fire in the sky!

Yes, we're going to the stars! See our fire in the sky!

Quote:Lit up with anticipation
We arrive at the launching site
The sky is still dark, nearing dawn
On the Florida coastline

Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams

Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon

Crackling speakers, voices tense
Resume the final count
All systems check, T minus nine
As the sun and the drama start to mount

The air is charged
A humid, motionless mass
The crowds and the cameras,
The cars full of spectators pass
Excitement so thick you could cut it with a knife
Technology...high, on the leading edge of life

The earth beneath us starts to tremble
With the spreading of a low black cloud
A thunderous roar shakes the air
Like the whole world exploding

Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
Tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by the awesome sound

Like a pillar of cloud
The smoke lingers high in the air
In fascination
With the eyes of the world
We stare...

Quote:Legends have warned us in times gone by:
Dangers can fall on us from the sky.
Fire and rain, and hail, stone, and flame,
And gods without mercy, and plagues without name.

Science has warned us of what might be:
Dangers that drift through infinity.
Comets may call, or meteors fall,
And nobody knows what lives out there at all.

Humans are hotheads who break the rules;
Humans are reckless, but not quite fools.
Therefore we fly, keeping an eye
Turned to the depths of the borderless sky.

Some of us people, the rest machines —
Sensors, computers, and read-out screens —
Always aware, with infinite care,
That we're the first warning of anything there.

We are the sentries who guard your sleep;
Endless as hours in the watch we keep;
Holding the sky under an eye;
As watchful as ever in ages gone by.

Nothing is certain but death and change,
Earth-borne or sky-borne as we may range.
Always we fly, watching the sky,
And nobody human need ever ask why!

Quote:I've never left this Earth; I've never seen the stars;
I've never had the chance to journey to the Moon or Mars;
My name will never be recalled in books of history,
But by God, I know that those who did could not have without me!
For…
CHORUS:
… I'm the man who took up tools, and laid out the designs
Of starships: I'm the one who built their sleek and burnished lines.
I'm Every Man who ever fashioned cold refined steel
Into the dreams of spaceflight: I'm the one who made them real.

I'll never feel the thrilling pain of blasting into space;
I'll never know what mysteries lie in some unearthly place;
I'll never see new stars be born, or watch the old ones die;
I'll never hear a child from an alien planet cry.
But…
CHORUS

I wonder what it feels like to dance without the tie
Of gravity upon me, though I'll never get to try.
But I have satisfaction knowing that I had a role
In giving those who could a chance to reach that final goal.
For…
CHORUS
I'm the one who made them real.

Quote:CHORUS:
Fly, Columbia! (Fly, Columbia!)
Thunder toward tomorrow on an oxygen stream!
Thunder toward tomorrow, flyer flame and rocket song!
Mark a new time of Man; booster candles light the dawn!
Fly, Columbia! (Fly, Columbia!)
Foundation of the future, courier of dreams,Thunder on!

Columbia, the promise of better days to come!
Columbia, new mistress of the sky!
Sail in orbit free, track the moon and chase the sun!
Fly, Columbia, for humankind, fly!

Quote:I was born of a dream on a drafting board;
Oh, the years it took to fill NASA's Plan.
With tons of thrust you sent me forth,
Across the space that time must span.
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

I journeyed far in the years gone by,
As I whispered my silent memories home.
Forgotten, I passed beyond your sight,
Then, at last, my mission's target loomed.
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

When Jupiter turned up its face,
That must have made you all amazed,
Stirred again your dreams of space.
For a while, I could feel your piercing gaze.
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

A faithful servitor of mankind,
I've searched the emptiness alone.
Must I wait throughout all time?
Will no one call the Voyager home?
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

I speak Knowledge! Does no one listen?

Quote:The full Earth stands at our left hands,
And the pale Moon on the right.
All fire and steel, our Catherine-wheel
Rolls through the endless night.
The sun may burn at full astern,
And the power-cells drink deep;
Both day and night stand in our sight,
From waking unto sleep.

CHORUS:
And we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
Yes we spin long light from the glory of the sun.
And the light-gems glow on the Earth below,
In the bright web spun from the glory of the sun.

The powers run from the brazen sun,
Through the web of heaven's height,
To the opal world, like a clouded pearl,
Strung on a thread of light.
And we pace our turn from bow to stern
Through the elfin-summer field,
Where the power-cells, like flower-bells,
Drink all the sun can yield.

CHORUS

The well-paced blips of the factory-ships
Slide past our orbit's brink;
Like a swarm of bees in the girder-trees,
Come to our flowers to drink.
And the Earth is clean as a springtime dream;
No factory-smokes appear –
For they've left the land to the gardener's hand,
And they all are circling here!

CHORUS