I met astronauts on August 30, 2014 for the first time at a friends engagement party. I have since met them again many years later at another event. I have no personal connection to them, but as a kid who grew up looking at the stars and imagining the incredible possibilities of the human species, it was, and always is a good moment when you are reminded that there are patriotic dedicated people moving us beyond what many previous generations would have thought was even possible.