Most of us have forgotten the unique rhythmic noise of words being typed on a page with a typewriter. What we know these days is soft and sometimes silent, whether composed with our fingers or our thumbs. Tim Youd has not forgotten that original sound.

I wonder if we're just not composed like the ones that came before us. If instead, we're made of the wrong stuff? If the stuff inside of us is flimsy, or too sensitive, self-doubting, if we have inner constitution of cotton candy.

Women have become "common" in space flight - except that the total number of spacenauts who are women is still 11% of the total.

As hard as it is to hear, each and every one of us is exactly where we are supposed to be in our lives at any moment. As we grow, evolve, and live, we go through so much -- and the tapestry of our lives is never just about happy or sad.

I caught up with former astronaut Scott Carpenter -- a retired U.S. Navy captain and one of only two original Mercury Seven "right stuff" astronauts still alive (the other is Glenn) -- on the half-century anniversary of his flight.