It hasn't been all that long in the grand scheme of things. Not even an average lifetime.
The year was 1961. It was on May 5 that Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space. He reached an altitude of just over 100 nautical miles for a 15-minute flight, then splashed down safely off the coast of Florida.
A year later, on Sept. 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation to put an American on the moon before the end of the 1960s.
The goal was clear. And our nation embraced it.
And on July 20, 1969, that challenge was met. U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took a "giant leap for mankind" by walking on the moon.
There have been other great achievements in the space program - and a few tragedies. But on Sunday we saw another step forward, another example of what the human mind, heart and spirit can conceive and make real - especially in a country like the United States.
The private company SpaceX welcomed two astronauts from a 63-day mission at the International Space Station. Like Shepard six decades before them, the pair splashed down off Florida - this time in the Gulf of Mexico.
The dream of billionaire Elon Musk, SpaceX became the first private company to launch a manned flight into orbit in May. And now the company has brought its passengers home safely.
It was an outstanding example of cooperation between NASA and SpaceX, government and private sector.
It's an accomplishment not unlike that first manned flight back in 1961. It shows us a path forward. It should inspire us to greater things.
And in these troubled times, our country desperately needs such a vision.