Let's start August with some good news

Now for some positive news.

SpaceX successfully returned two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station abroad its Dragon spacecraft on Sunday. They had been orbiting the earth aboard the ISS for about two months.

This was the first time in several years that astronauts had gone to space and returned from the U.S.

It also was significant because it was the first time a commercially built spacecraft had taken astronauts into orbit.

That isn’t the only piece of good news.

Just days before Dragon brought Robert Behnken and Doug Hurley back to Earth, NASA successfully launched the Perseverance rover to Mars to explore what could be the landing spot for a future mission to bring humans to the planet.

Both of these events are evidence that we can do hard, difficult things. That we can take calculated risks and succeed.

After months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pain of a nation realizing the extent of systemic racism, it is easy to get down. So the success of NASA’s missions is a moment to remember that the future is still bright. We just have to work to get there.

Even among their celebration and joyfulness, NASA officials still spoke about how hard future missions to the Moon and Mars will be. There are risks and space remains a harsh environment.

But what I liked as I listened to the NASA officials speak is that these challenges can be overcome. You just have to keep working at it.

That’s a great lesson that all of us need to keep in mind as we work through the myriad issues that face the nation and the GovCon market.

As Casey Kasem used to say, “Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.”

To quote my kids’ school principal: We can do hard things.

Let’s remember that as the market barrels its way through the fourth quarter.