The Eros Machine

The room erupted into spontaneous applause as the countdown reached zero and the female’s voice announced, “We have main engine start and lift off. Lift off for NASA’s NEAR Shoemaker observer. On its way to rendezvous with the asteroid Eros 433.”
That seemed a long time ago, as I look back at the events that have unfolded since that time.
None of us knew then, that simple innocuous mission would answer the question that humanity had asked since we took those first historical steps into space.
“Are we alone?”