Astronaut John Grunsfeld followed his dream to space

"Like a lot of boys growing up during the space race, John Grunsfeld was fascinated by astronauts. But even then, as a 7-year-old back in 1965, the lengths to which Grunsfeld pursued his dream of space travel set him apart.

There was the canister vacuum cleaner strapped to his back for an air tank. The old ice cream container, tweaked with an innovator's eye to serve as a space helmet. The times spent sitting alone in dark closets, practicing for the isolation of space. And at one point, there was the ill-advised test flight off the kitchen counter of his Hyde Park home in the belief that flapping his arms would keep him aloft, a giant leap born of faith and focus that left the boy dazed but hardly deterred."

Click here to read more about how Grunsfeld's dream came true.