Watching History Unfold

A while back, we got a satellite dish. I've been quite pleased with it. It works great in the rain, the picture is never grainy, there is no static. We have access to all kinds of strange t.v. shows, too. Nothing good on TLC? That's ok, I can watch a cattle auction!
One of these little-viewed stations is the NASA channel. Tonight the Hubby-Man and I watched people watch their computers tell them what was happening with the latest go at Mars. Now pictures are coming in. Who needs sleep when I can look at pics of Mars? Not only do I get to view images from the rover as soon as NASA does, they have commentators! Wow.

I snicker loudly at those of you who still have cable. You'll have to wait for the pics to show up on the net. I'm seeing them now.

A sad day for space travel

NASA Defends Sending New Crew to Station
Conspiracy theorists blame it on the Jews, aliens, HAARP, China, the internet, and GW needing a distraction. I'd like to see the conspiracy theorists tackle why we keep getting grounded. The ISS is falling apart. None of the countries involved are sending the required replacement parts. The atmosphere aboard is toxic, but not deadly. The onboard sensors designed to provide real-time analysis of the air, water and radiation levels have been broken for months, so no one can tell how bad it is up there right now. And without repairs and replacements, it's only going to get worse.

On the flip side of the news, however; GW was heckled in Australia by members of parliament and protestors outside. His response? "I love free speech."

Um. Yeah. Bush loves free speech. Those words just don't string together very well.

I am looking at NASA's photos of Columbia's left wing, and reading an article about who showed up at a public meeting about the future of spaceflight.
When I think about the consequences of a war on Iraq, I grieve for them. None of the terrible things that will happen to them have happened yet, and I should be celebrating their lives instead of hurting over their future.
When I think about life without a continual push for progressive spaceflight, I itch all over inside! I feel the hairs standing up all over my body! Ayeee! (itch itch itch)
Look, I know there's shit going on all over the world. I know it sux to live in [pick a country], and we are all under a heavy burden of [choose a weight]. AND

There are moments in everyones life that make us great.
Entering a burning building to save a life. Standing before a tank in a public square- and dying for it. Hugging a child, hugging an adult, hugging a stranger, touching another. Sending a living being off this planet and BRINGING IT HOME AGAIN, not once not twice, but more than a thousand times! When did these things become cliche? These acts lift our heads from the muck and mire of our daily crap, and remind us that life covers the whole wide world!

Every time a craft leaves this planet, it brings us just a little closer to seeing this world as one big group of people, instead of a bunch of little groups of people -Buck