Space

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Goin' home.

 

So, what say you?  Is space more relevant now than it was five months ago?

[Bdub01 201]

Space is what it always has been. It's no more or less relevant than it ever was...

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Perhaps, but one wonders if more of the youth of the world might now be more engaged?

[Easy Bakes 253]

I thought this was better then space oddity

 

[hym 358]

Perhaps, but one wonders if more of the youth of the world might now be more engaged?

 

If NASA is an indication, the future of space exploration is going to go through a rough period for several years (or a few decades).  NASA officials admit that they have failed to capture the attention of the current crop of 18-34 year olds.  They are hoping to do better with the upcoming group but NASA is basically throwing money down a black hole and hoping for the best because they don't really have any evidence that the outreach efforts are working.  (At the same time, grade school students generally don't really know what they want to do with their lives.)

 

It's my understanding that Lockheed Martin is paying aerospace engineering interns almost $100,000 to work for them for a year, and they are still complaining of a small candidate pool.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

There will always be a small pool of people destined for space.  The rest are just a bunch of ground grippers. 

 

Columbus would have had an awful time finding a crew if he hadn't had a royal mandate.  The real discoverers of America were the pre-columbian travellers, the Chinese and the Vikings. 

 

The problem with them was that they didn't hang around.  Not enough treasure was found in the north to keep the Vikings here, and the land was no better than home.  If the Viking colonies had been successful we'd all be speaking something like Icelandic.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Garbage collection needed.

 

It is time for the nations that have put junk in space to co-operate on a garbage truck.  A vehicle is needed to hunt down the junk and cause it to fall and burn up in the atmosphere at the very least.  Collection would be better, with salvage, but I don't think we are at that point in our abilities yet.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

For rent.

 

Expense recovery operation, no doubt.  :kitty: The new tenant will probably want to paint it. :kitty:

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Chinese crew docks at private space station.

 

Perhaps China would like to join the effort at the ISS?  Going it alone is rather expensive.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

ISS resupply and re-orbit mission arrives.

 

The Albert Einstein?  Would have been a better thing to call it something else since it is destined to burn up in the atmosphere after it becomes a garbage barge.  How about the 'Eurozone'.