Uhhh, that's pretty, but John Glenn's Mercury spacecraft was Friendship 7. Aurora 7 was Scott Carpenter, and that's not even the artwork on Carpenter's ship.
Goddammit.
I was born in October 1975, so the Space Shuttle IS Americans in space to me. I got up at five in the morning to watch STS-1 launch, and watched Young & Crippen return to Earth on a black & white wheeled into our little classroom.
I was fortunate enough to see STS-5, -6, -7, -9, and 41-D return to Earth at Edwards AFB as an Air Force brat.
I never saw a launch in person, which seemed all these years just a "Well, never had the time or the money" write off...but now makes me feel kinda sick.
I'm sad to see the program end, while I accept that it couldn't fly forever. Any sense of melancholy or nostalgia, though, was overcome as I watched the last launch by an avalanche of other emotions...mainly despair, frustration, and yes, anger at the fact that no one now has a coherent, let alone specific, organized or decisive answer to the question: "What next?"
I was born in October 1975, so the Space Shuttle IS Americans in space to me. I got up at five in the morning to watch STS-1 launch, and watched Young & Crippen return to Earth on a black & white wheeled into our little classroom.
I was fortunate enough to see STS-5, -6, -7, -9, and 41-D return to Earth at Edwards AFB as an Air Force brat.
I never saw a launch in person, which seemed all these years just a "Well, never had the time or the money" write off...but now makes me feel kinda sick.
I'm sad to see the program end, while I accept that it couldn't fly forever. Any sense of melancholy or nostalgia, though, was overcome as I watched the last launch by an avalanche of other emotions...mainly despair, frustration, and yes, anger at the fact that no one now has a coherent, let alone specific, organized or decisive answer to the question: "What next?"
Hate to go back to a days-old thread, but that comment is so ludicrous I have to respond.
Pakistan? The hopelessly corrupt sewer that sheltered bin Laden for a decade while pretending to be our ally?
Iran? The would-be hegemon of the Middle East that is simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and has vocally dedicated itself to the destruction of the region's only representative democracy, Israel?
Saudi Arabia? Better not get behind the wheel there (I'm assuming from your username that you're a woman). And if you get raped in the Kingdom, it's your fault.
But yeah, I'm a white man, so sorry about those two guys.
Pakistan? The hopelessly corrupt sewer that sheltered bin Laden for a decade while pretending to be our ally?
Iran? The would-be hegemon of the Middle East that is simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and has vocally dedicated itself to the destruction of the region's only representative democracy, Israel?
Saudi Arabia? Better not get behind the wheel there (I'm assuming from your username that you're a woman). And if you get raped in the Kingdom, it's your fault.
But yeah, I'm a white man, so sorry about those two guys.
Soooo...who's bold enough to undertake the Butthole Biodiversity Project?
Oh, damn your crude revulsions. This is science!
Oh, damn your crude revulsions. This is science!
For now, yes. At least if you define the "Space Age" as humans venturing into the black.
The ChiComs might mount one or more flags-and-footprints excursions to the moon, and private enterprises like SpaceX will probably orbit crew under contract to and from the ISS, but to what end?
There's no conceivable breakthrough on the horizon that will make humans in space beyond LEO profitable, so scratch that. As for another taxpayer-financed Apollo-style adventure...dream the fuck on. The foreseeable future of the Western social democracies is Greece now, writ large. Nobody reading this will live to see people from any nation(s) blasting off to Mars, and likely neither will your children.
This IS the end of the first space age. We'll keep puttering around in LEO for another decade or so, until our currency is worthless and our cities are burning and we can't justify even that any more.
The second space age, the one we all love to imagine, is gonna be a loooooong time coming. Not years or decades, but generations.
The ChiComs might mount one or more flags-and-footprints excursions to the moon, and private enterprises like SpaceX will probably orbit crew under contract to and from the ISS, but to what end?
There's no conceivable breakthrough on the horizon that will make humans in space beyond LEO profitable, so scratch that. As for another taxpayer-financed Apollo-style adventure...dream the fuck on. The foreseeable future of the Western social democracies is Greece now, writ large. Nobody reading this will live to see people from any nation(s) blasting off to Mars, and likely neither will your children.
This IS the end of the first space age. We'll keep puttering around in LEO for another decade or so, until our currency is worthless and our cities are burning and we can't justify even that any more.
The second space age, the one we all love to imagine, is gonna be a loooooong time coming. Not years or decades, but generations.
I guess you & I have very different ideas of what constitutes "civilization," then.
Mine is a society that that retains the ability to actually recognize evil, call it what it is, and confront it.
Mine is a society that that retains the ability to actually recognize evil, call it what it is, and confront it.
Thanks for posting that quote.
Some here apparently find it "hurtful," but there's nothing in it that's incorrect.
Some here apparently find it "hurtful," but there's nothing in it that's incorrect.
So, when can we expect all these learned, cultured, enlightened Muslims to demand that savages stop slaughtering people in the name of their faith? Any day now, right?
I'm not into comics, so I've no strong opinion on Frank Miller. I do find it edifying that he's actually willing to take this on when the rest of our "creative community," from Hollywood on down, have their heads either in the sand or up their asses. Our superheroes are still fighting Nazis and the CIA, for fuck's sake.
Also, most of the comments here reinforce what I accepted years ago: Moral equivalence is the disease that will set our civilization back decades.
Also, most of the comments here reinforce what I accepted years ago: Moral equivalence is the disease that will set our civilization back decades.
Ya know, I wish I could just make some trite Mad Max-referencing joke and chuckle about this particular hypothetical, but...
This thread is long gone, but I logged in just to second your thought. That America is dead.
STS-135 is all but a done deal, unless it slips into FY2012, in which case funds haven't been allocated and the flight would likely be cancelled.
I was on the fence about seeing this film. Then CJ's review made me lean toward seeing it. That Ebert quote guarantees I will see it.
When did that guy turn into such an embittered, crotchety asshole, anyway?
When did that guy turn into such an embittered, crotchety asshole, anyway?
Yeah, the Russians might have had something to say about an unannounced Saturn V launch...not to mention citizens of Florida within a 100+ mile radius.
That said, this looks like it might be kinda fun...
That said, this looks like it might be kinda fun...
Hey, give Carrie a break. She was probably coked out of her dome at the time.
@collex: I didn't realize that Ridley Scott himself coined the phrase...I thought it was just one of those fan memes that started who-knows-where and self-propagated through the Interwebs.
Also, I'm really excited about this movie's premise. So far.
Also, I'm really excited about this movie's premise. So far.
I just think it's unfortunate to see yet another once-great actor go down the DeNiro/Pacino "Guy Who Now Just Collects Monster Paychecks For Riffing Off His Most Famous Role" path.
@awwwcrap: Who needs two kidneys, anyway?
So...
...still weird?
...still weird?
@jetRink: Can you imagine NASA launching into a thunderstorm these days?
I still can't believe how all-around balls-out the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo era was.
I still can't believe how all-around balls-out the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo era was.
