Apr 6, 2010

The Future Sucks

Sunday night before I went to sleep, I read that the shuttle Discovery would be making a launch in the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning. It had been a real long while since I watched a shuttle launch live so I told myself "Self, if you are up for some reason between 5 and 6AM, tune into the NASA website to watch the launch live."

And I did. Still impressive after all these years.

I'm almost positive that the last shuttle launch I watched live was the doomed Challenger mission in 1986. I was a sophomore in college and I was in between classes doing school work with the TV on in the background. Back then they interrupted programming to show shuttle launches live on the major networks. I remember hearing the announcer say "explosion" and I looked up and saw the smoke trails on the television. I sat there in shock as they replayed the event over and over and over again. No one else was around. Maybe they were in class or at lunch, but it remains an eerie and awful memory for me to this day.

Anyway, I also read that the shuttle program is to be scrapped in September of this year. To be replaced by something else, I guess. They haven't figured that out yet. There is a bill in Congress to extend the program, but I don't think it will pass. Maybe they will retire the International Space Station as well at the end of the year. How else are they gonna re-supply/fix it? I dunno.

The future that is our present sucks.

It's been over 40 years now. We should have a space station on the Moon. Manned missions to Mars and beyond. Flying cars. Sexbots. You know the drill. All the stuff we were promised on those episodes of The Jetsons. C'mon...you thought Rosie wore that maid outfit just for cleaning the house?  Puh-leeze!

At this rate, I don't think I will ever see a manned mission to Mars in my lifetime. And that sucks. Because Mars is what's next. But apparently we as a species no longer care about that.  At least our government doesn't.

Horace Greeley would certainly disapprove.

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. Nice buttons, Rosie.

15 comments:

RW said...

Yeah right and so what are we supposed to do when the climate overheats and we can't live here no more? Did they ever think of that? Buncha idiots running this show!

Avitable said...

Forget Mars, where's my colony on the sun?

Verdant Earl said...

RW - fucking tell me 'bout it.

Verdant Earl said...

Avitable - it would have to be made of unobtainium to survive the heat. But I bet we stopped looking for THAT too.

limpy99 said...

My understanding is that the Space Station will be supplied by the Russians once we drop the Shuttle program. And that would be a problem, since I think the Russians use Legos as building materials for their rockets.

Heff said...

Considering our "current administration", I'm quite sure the program will be scrapped.

Slyde said...

Haven't there been dozens of men docking with Uranus?

2abes said...

WOW, like the loading dock at the local walmart? Hopefully, loading better quality goods.

Verdant Earl said...

Limpy - plus they are sneaky.

Heff - except the plans for scrapping it started with the "previous administration". Either way, it's a shame.

Slyde - brilliant as always.

2abes - Slyde's obsessed with docking. The sad little queen.

Barlinnie said...

Did the Americans ever really get to the moon first, or was it really a conspiracy?

Will we ever know?

Verdant Earl said...

Jimmy - sure looked like a Hollywood sound stage to me!

Kevin Spencer said...

Where the hell are our jetpacks? We were totally lied to when we were younger. *This* is the future?

Heff said...

Shit, if it was doomed with the republicans, it's DAMN SURE gone now !

Verdant Earl said...

Kevin - total ripoff.

Heff - And the feeling is that future space travel will come from privatized industry. What does that sound like? ;)

Faiqa said...

There's a very small step between Rosie from the Jetsons and Number Six. Thank your lucky stars.