Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Proud American Geek
The Shuttle launch was today. There a lot of people who may not care about that, and that’s your prerogative, but I gotta tell you that’s what this article is about, so I won’t blame if you want to tune out. Don’t worry. More well crafted poop jokes to come in future installments.
When I think of the shuttle and the space program in general, in the back of my mind, I am aware of the terrestrial people they could feed with its operational budget, and that Busch has perhaps tried to use the space program as a diversionary tactic and to rekindle a malaise-infected, flagging American Morale. “Yeah, there’s a war we’re failing at miserably, but loookee over here, we’re going to the moon…for some apparent reason.”
I’m not gonna deny that, or overly assert the fact that tons of enriching, empowering technology has trickled down to our hands from the Space Program. (Think Tang!)
I’m just going to say, “Wow.”
If you got to see the launch today, it was breathtaking. And amazing. Which it always has been, but they’ve gotten better cameras to capture it, including one mounted to the shuttle’s external fuel tank, that’s more for functional and for safety reasons, but still gave a cool-ass view.
The launch was more impressive this time too because of what went before. Even the least pop-culture savvy among us knows that there was a horrible disaster last time. And that had to be on everyone’s mind…except the crew. They seemed to have an attitude like, “Yeah, there’s danger here…can we get tang in a flavor besides orange?” Of course they were concerned, but they were more concerned about the mission, and the overt coolness.
Let me tell you something you might not know. The lead commander is a woman. And that’s news, but not big news. I’m not saying that there is no glass ceiling, or that everything is equal, but the fact that we just accept that the woman commander is there doing it to it, just like everyone else…that speaks to the culture of our society…especially the fact that she’s heading a government organization. A quasi-military organization. Rock.
So, I’m keeping my eyes to the skies, and puling for those shuttle guys. I’m wondering if the people in the space station are going to tip well after the shuttle delivers all of that food.
And, remember, they still have to get down from there.
When I think of the shuttle and the space program in general, in the back of my mind, I am aware of the terrestrial people they could feed with its operational budget, and that Busch has perhaps tried to use the space program as a diversionary tactic and to rekindle a malaise-infected, flagging American Morale. “Yeah, there’s a war we’re failing at miserably, but loookee over here, we’re going to the moon…for some apparent reason.”
I’m not gonna deny that, or overly assert the fact that tons of enriching, empowering technology has trickled down to our hands from the Space Program. (Think Tang!)
I’m just going to say, “Wow.”
If you got to see the launch today, it was breathtaking. And amazing. Which it always has been, but they’ve gotten better cameras to capture it, including one mounted to the shuttle’s external fuel tank, that’s more for functional and for safety reasons, but still gave a cool-ass view.
The launch was more impressive this time too because of what went before. Even the least pop-culture savvy among us knows that there was a horrible disaster last time. And that had to be on everyone’s mind…except the crew. They seemed to have an attitude like, “Yeah, there’s danger here…can we get tang in a flavor besides orange?” Of course they were concerned, but they were more concerned about the mission, and the overt coolness.
Let me tell you something you might not know. The lead commander is a woman. And that’s news, but not big news. I’m not saying that there is no glass ceiling, or that everything is equal, but the fact that we just accept that the woman commander is there doing it to it, just like everyone else…that speaks to the culture of our society…especially the fact that she’s heading a government organization. A quasi-military organization. Rock.
So, I’m keeping my eyes to the skies, and puling for those shuttle guys. I’m wondering if the people in the space station are going to tip well after the shuttle delivers all of that food.
And, remember, they still have to get down from there.
// posted by Tim @ 8:14 AM 
