Happy 4th of July folks!
And yes, from the tone in the subject line, I’m talking about the SUCCESSFUL launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery!
And it’s about frigging TIME!
The timing of this launch was just about right. Here’s the biggest rocket we can fire off for the day, and for once we HOPE that it doesn’tEXPLODE. Thankfully it didn’t.
And yes, even though I’m a Libertarian, I do believe that space travel is one of the FEW legitimate government interests that we should be spending money on. Private interests in space travel should be encouraged as well, but let’s face it, we NEED to get out there! If the Earth really is as fragile as the liberals claim it to be, then it is in our collective best interests to spend money on getting our asses offthis planet and spreading our seeds around the cosmos.
NASA, though, has been dragging its collective ass when it comes to the shuttle ever since the aged shuttle Columbia burned up. They weren’t just erring on the side of cowardice, but under the previous pencil-pushing administrator, NASA had pretty much given up on manned flights! Now, of course, with a different guy in charge, they’re backto putting the shuttle up.
The really interesting part about watching this launch was they actually let us watch the launch from the perspective of the camera mounted on the solid fuel tank and actually follow the shuttle up out of theatmosphere and watch it detach. That was really a great view to take in.
Of course, there was a moment when it looked like NASA was going to cave back in when they heard about a 5-inch crack in the foam on the main tank. And of course there were the two weather delays. Thankfully the NASA administrators listened to the experts when they said that the crack was negligible and it was back to getting the shuttle off theground. And they've even said such in the follow-up press briefing!
So congrats to NASA for starting to act like they have some testosterone again. It’s about time they got back off the mat and getting back todoing what we’ve been paying them to do.
Posts
1 comment:
Not wanting to be outdone, of course, North Korea responds to our shuttle launch by firing off two missiles of their own into the Sea of Japan. Two impotent dickless wonders just like their dimmunative reject from the Lollypop Guild who claims to be their leader.
I'm sorry, but Kim Jong Munchkin needs to learn FEAR. He needs to be put in his place... preferably as someone's lawn troll.
Post a Comment