A public entry? It must be a rant! Say yes to manned space flight!
Yesterday was my day off, and since I follow all things NASA on twitter, I happened to know it was a tentative launch day. The way my schedule works at the Hitch, I often find myself home for launches, and I try and catch them all on NASA TV. In some ways, unfortunately nearly all of them negative, the loss of the Columbia made America take a second look at its manned space program. Our attention span was woefully brief however, and shortly after the resumption of regular flights, it was back to our "business as usual" attitude.
I've always wondered how exactly we've come to take these magnificent events for granted. Even on my tiny little laptop - 3...2...1... and I'm holding my breath as those engines ignite, and somehow, miraculously, the beautiful, though ageing, pinnacle of engineering that is the space shuttle lits itself clear of the tower and hurls out of the atmosphere. I can't help but do a victory dance, and feel utterly proud, as though I had anything to do with the process at all. Not to undercut the hard work of the people who actually do contribute to the physical launch of the shuttle, but it is an event that is more broadly a human accomplishment, something that every mother's child should feel an integral part of.
As many of you have heard, ad nauseum, I worked on an experiment that flew on STS-107, throughout most of my high school career, along with the lovely and talented peppercini, and also notapromqueen 's hubby. :) Tragedy aside, it was probably the most amazing thing I've ever done. Standing watching, hearing, and feeling the launch at Banana Creek with Rach and Brad (Lieban only sort of counts :P) is an experience I will brag about when I'm a million years old. Little kids will roll their eyes at me as I launch (hah, get it?) into the thousandth retelling of the ants in space story - but only if manned space flight still exists in America.
Did you realize that there are only a scant handful of flights left on the space shuttle manifest? After late 2010, there will be no more manned space flight from US soil, until NASA works out an alternative to the shuttle, or private companies take the lead. I have no issue with the latter outcome, but I think it will be many long years before we reach that point. I cannot think of a single scientific accomplishment that is more awe-inspiring than the ability to project humans outside of our native planet. It is extremely disheartening how nonchalantly the American public is ready to give that up.
I don't understand the people who rail about the danger of manned space flight. It's not like we're flinging itinerants willy-nilly into orbit. We have a corps of trained, consenting adults, happy to sit on a ton of rocket fuel for the chance of a trip into space. It is okay for a military advancement to put human life at risk, but god forbid we push the envelope for science's sake. I mean, science is a luxury. And stealth bombers are a necessary staple?! Please.
I want other students to see what I saw, and feel what I felt, watching that shuttle roar into the atmosphere. I want the country to feel inspired by men and women who are, at their heart, scientists (albeit in a really, really expensive lab) doing basic research.
I've always wondered how exactly we've come to take these magnificent events for granted. Even on my tiny little laptop - 3...2...1... and I'm holding my breath as those engines ignite, and somehow, miraculously, the beautiful, though ageing, pinnacle of engineering that is the space shuttle lits itself clear of the tower and hurls out of the atmosphere. I can't help but do a victory dance, and feel utterly proud, as though I had anything to do with the process at all. Not to undercut the hard work of the people who actually do contribute to the physical launch of the shuttle, but it is an event that is more broadly a human accomplishment, something that every mother's child should feel an integral part of.
As many of you have heard, ad nauseum, I worked on an experiment that flew on STS-107, throughout most of my high school career, along with the lovely and talented peppercini, and also notapromqueen 's hubby. :) Tragedy aside, it was probably the most amazing thing I've ever done. Standing watching, hearing, and feeling the launch at Banana Creek with Rach and Brad (Lieban only sort of counts :P) is an experience I will brag about when I'm a million years old. Little kids will roll their eyes at me as I launch (hah, get it?) into the thousandth retelling of the ants in space story - but only if manned space flight still exists in America.
Did you realize that there are only a scant handful of flights left on the space shuttle manifest? After late 2010, there will be no more manned space flight from US soil, until NASA works out an alternative to the shuttle, or private companies take the lead. I have no issue with the latter outcome, but I think it will be many long years before we reach that point. I cannot think of a single scientific accomplishment that is more awe-inspiring than the ability to project humans outside of our native planet. It is extremely disheartening how nonchalantly the American public is ready to give that up.
I don't understand the people who rail about the danger of manned space flight. It's not like we're flinging itinerants willy-nilly into orbit. We have a corps of trained, consenting adults, happy to sit on a ton of rocket fuel for the chance of a trip into space. It is okay for a military advancement to put human life at risk, but god forbid we push the envelope for science's sake. I mean, science is a luxury. And stealth bombers are a necessary staple?! Please.
I want other students to see what I saw, and feel what I felt, watching that shuttle roar into the atmosphere. I want the country to feel inspired by men and women who are, at their heart, scientists (albeit in a really, really expensive lab) doing basic research.