Bon Voyage

The shuttle Discovery takes off today and I wish the astronauts aboard her a safe an productive voyage. As regular readers know, I take time every so often to bash NASA. They need it. It's become a joke.

Now, people who know me know I am one of space exploration's biggest advocates. I believe the future of Humanity lies among the stars. Space to us is like the Atlantic Ocean to Columbus. We stand here on the shore, gazing up at the opportunities that await us, just out of our grasp. The fact we are sending our people up in 35 year old crap spacecraft is equivalent to sending our kids to Iraq in unarmored Humvees.

Yes, folks, the shuttles and their systems were designed over 3 decades ago. We've lost two crews already and it's only a matter of time until we lose another now that we'll begin regular rotations again.

Think about this. We're sending people who are willing to take the risk to explore the most forbidding environment, up in craft that are so delicate, a piece of fucking foam or a stiff wind can damage them critcally. WTF? This is space you idiots. Scrap these fucking things and build something that'll hold together if it gets hit by a fucking bus.

Our astronauts are willing to do the hard, dirty work of giving mankind a presence in the heavens, the least we can do is give them dependable equipment. It's time to redefine NASA's priorities. It's time to streamline their mission so they can devote their time and resources to either manned flight or unmanned probes. It's time to remove the top-heavy management structure of the agency and purge the entrenched bureaucracy.

By God, ladies and gents, we've been doing this for almost half a century. By now we should have bases on the Moon and Mars, and mining operations in the Asteroid Belt. What are we doing instead? Watching and praying the fucking thing will make it to the Station and back. This is a joke and unconscionable.

Good luck to the crew of STS-114, my heart and my dreams go with you. I pray the people who make the decisions to fly have your best interest, not the political expediency of getting the thing into space, in mind.

Update: 14:00:

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MSNBC Breaking News
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NASA says current weather may delay shuttle launch. More to come... -

Ooops, something else broke. As of 2 PM it's scrubbed. Piece of shit.