Back in 2005 I was able to tour the same "Mission Control" facility, sit in space shuttle cockpit, fly simulator, etc. So cool to watch the "capcom" talking to the astronauts on the ISS while watching it streak across the giant earth-map video screen. Then we went to the U2 show in Houston that night, met Paul McGuinness on the floor, and gave me a copy of the show setlist. Not a bad day all in all.
Sister's husband is an astronaut (and U2 fan). He went up last year. They're allowed to take some small personal effects with them. Among them, he took a copy of U2's HTDAAB. He was also nice enough to take a photo of me and family, and also a photo of my parents (father died not long before). So both photos circled the Earth for about two weeks. He took a photo of each of those photos in the porthole window of the space station. It is extraordinarily special to have that beautiful photo of my parents on that window, with the sunrise coming up behind the earth behind them. The whole thing was a surprise to my mother. He presented it to her when he came back. I'll never ever forget that moment.
