Ah, a kindred spirit … the author of the above linked article makes an incredible point about contemporary American … we are not only apathetic but we also have grow all too complacent.
The Chinese have their own rover now on the moon and it is barely a blip on the news radar screen in the US. So what? We did that 50 years ago. This from a society that always seems to be asking, “Yeah? But what have you done for me lately?”
The Iranians recently put a monkey into orbit and safely returned it to the ground. So what? We also did that more than 50 years ago. You do know that the same technology that put humans has a dual use, don’t you? If you can lift a payload large enough to carry a primate in orbit, with all the necessary life support aboard to keep it alive until it comes back down, then you have a missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon basically anywhere on the planet. That, my friends, was what the space race of the 1950s and 1960s really was all about.
Back in those days, when my mother was so deeply involved in writing the computer programs that took America’s space craft hither and yon, we used to joke that we planned to buy her a ticket on one of the first commercial flights into space. Well, it turned out just to be a joke. She is dead now and we are still a year or so from regular commercial manned spaceflight … even if it will only be sub-orbital trips.
And giving the dithering of American political leadership, I don’t expect that the U.S. government will be doing much in space.
Look at the huge foo-fa-ra over what ethnic color Santa is when the International Space Station (which the US can only access these days via the Russians or a fledgling American commercial group) literally is starting to fall apart .
I am sorry folks, but Santa basically is a European creation and that makes him probably Caucasian, although there may be some Turk in him, and that makes him a white guy. You don’t like that? Get over it.
Now, I could go into my physics lecture on how the color white is the presence of all the visible light spectrums, which means that it includes all the other hues and shades, but that would just befuddle most people.
Or, I could point out that Santa (Saint) Claus really is a Christian thingy, but then all the progressives would throw in all the other cultural influences on on the annual gift-giving spree.
Or I could point out that the concept of Santa has become pretty much universal, so he belongs to a whole lot of cultures now.
Actually, it doesn’t really matter people what color race, etc., you think he is. Unless, of course, like the American discourse these days, you have become obsessed with the concept of race and inject it into everything and everything.
So, back to space, which is where I really want to go. That really is more important than what color or race you think Santa is.
So, for now, I am going to rooting on the second teams in the US; those private partnerships and corporations who have decided to pick up the standard dropped by the US government, its narcissistic politicians and indolent masses who just want their bread and circuses (NFL football and other pro sports. any one) had dropped.
I hope that visionary people throw a bunch of bucks in the direction of the private groups so they can grab up the colors, rally the troops, equip them and race back to places like the moon and on to Mars.
I know my Mom would be rooting for them too … and programing anything they needed to get there.
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