Apollo 15 landed in the moon's Apennine Mountains, near the edge of Hadley Rille, a canyon over a thousand feet deep. If I had the choice of visiting only one spot on the moon, I know I'd go to Hadley Rille.

I never thought I'd meet astronauts, especially not several of them twice. I never thought I'd see a space shuttle launch. I never thought I'd get to work for NASA. But I did, and I owe it to you.

"We're opening up the space frontier to all, not just those lucky few public astronauts who are sponsored by the government or those that happen to be rich enough to be able to spend 40 million to fly on a Russian vehicle."

The journey to the launch pad is over, but Curiosity's mission is just beginning. In August, she will arrive at Gale Crater, and I know I'll be watching as she descends through the Martian atmosphere.