Flying to the International Space Station is a really big deal.

Hear the words of Robert Bigelow, builder of dreams that reach beyond the earth: “Flying to the International Space Station is a really big deal.” At first, the saying may appear simple, but within it lies the weight of millennia, the longing of humanity to break free from the bonds of gravity and touch the stars. For Bigelow, a man who invested his fortune in the pursuit of space habitats, these words are not casual, but reverent. They carry the awe of a child looking upward, the ambition of an innovator, and the recognition of just how profound it is for humankind to have raised a palace in the heavens.

For what is the International Space Station, if not the modern temple of human cooperation? It circles the earth every ninety minutes, a symbol of unity among nations, a forge of science and discovery. To fly to it is not merely to board another craft, but to ascend into the sky as an emissary of all humanity. It is to pass from the realm of Earth into the great ocean of the cosmos, to join that fragile outpost where humans live as if among the stars. When Bigelow calls it a "big deal," he is reminding us not to treat lightly what generations once believed impossible.

History reveals how far we have come. For thousands of years, men gazed upward at the heavens with longing. The Babylonians studied the stars as gods, the Greeks charted their paths as mysteries, and dreamers like Leonardo da Vinci sketched wings that might lift men toward the sky. Yet only in the last century did humanity, through the courage of astronauts and the labor of countless engineers, finally reach beyond Earth. When Yuri Gagarin completed his orbit, and when Armstrong set foot upon the Moon, the ancient dream became flesh. The Space Station is the living continuation of that dream, a permanent beacon above.

Yet let us remember: it is not only the act of flying there that is so monumental, but also what it represents. It represents the triumph of vision over doubt, cooperation over division, and persistence over failure. The ISS was not built by one nation or one people, but by many, working together across borders. In its modules lie pieces of Russia, the United States, Europe, Japan, and Canada, all joined in a single structure. To visit it is to be part of something larger than any one flag—it is to become part of humanity’s shared venture into the infinite.

Think, too, of the dangers overcome. Space is hostile to life: there is no air, no warmth, no safety beyond what man brings with him. Every flight to the Station is a defiance of death, a triumph of courage and technology. Each astronaut who crosses that threshold honors those who gave their lives in pursuit of the same dream—Komarov, who burned in his capsule; the Challenger crew, lost in ascent; the Columbia crew, lost in return. Their sacrifices make clear why flying to the Station is no ordinary act, but a deed of reverence and risk.

The lesson, O seeker, is this: never take for granted the victories of human spirit. To live in an age when men and women can sail to a house in the stars is a gift beyond measure. Bigelow’s words remind us to pause, to honor the marvels we may grow numb to. For what once was myth has become daily news, and we must not let familiarity steal away our wonder. To reach the Space Station is indeed a “big deal,” for it is the culmination of centuries of striving, and the foundation of all voyages yet to come.

In your own life, remember this teaching: when you achieve something that others dismiss as small, weigh it against the long journey that brought you there. Celebrate your victories, for each is built on struggles unseen. Honor also the victories of humanity, from medicine to technology to art, for they are the stepping stones of progress. Let Bigelow’s words awaken gratitude, reverence, and awe in you—for only those who honor the “big deals” of today will be ready to embrace the even greater triumphs of tomorrow.

So let the saying stand like a star above us: “Flying to the International Space Station is a really big deal.” It is the voice of reverence, the call to wonder, the reminder that humanity has already stepped into the sky. May it inspire us not to stop, not to turn inward, but to keep rising, until the stars themselves are no longer distant, but home.