The Dad-opedia

It's Father's Day. Do you have your facts straight? There was an article in yesterday's Washington Post, where the reporter shadowed some fathers and sons around the National Air and Space Museum here in Washington. He heard the following:

• "Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly across the Atlantic (looking at the Spirit of St. Louis).
• John Glenn flew the little Mercury capsule to the moon (pointing to the Friendship 7).
• The Russian satellite (Sputnik) carried a dog into space.

The reporter watched another exchange where a 12-year old asked his father what the large, dark disks on the bottom of the Mercury capsule were made of. Without missing a beat, the father reported, "Steel." Um, sorry. It's actually a plastic-fiberglass composite.

We (fathers) seem to have an inability to say "I don't know" (see also, asking for directions when lost). When asked about the exchange a few moments later, the father admitted that he guesses "I make stuff up all the time."

For the record, Lindbergh did fly the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic Ocean. He was not the first to do so, only the first to do it alone and non-stop. John Glenn used Friendship 7 to orbit the Earth. Sputnik (which the one in the museum is a replica) is only 23 inches in diameter. Laika, the Russian dog, went up later.

So, Dads, let's work on our image, OK? But stay away from Wikipedia, it's not trustworthy. Happy Father's Day!