If you tuned in to NASA TV you got to see it live (Nasa.gov or Space.com), except for me since my P.O.S. Compaq decided to lock up at T-minus one-minute-forty
:::Insert sound of PC hitting every step in the stairwell:::
Too bad the mainstream press doesn’t give a damn about these events. Each and every one of these is a major engineering feat but, sadly, we take them for granted.
I’m still miffed that the first woman commander’s mission (one that actually had several major problems including a main engine failure) was buried by the press in favor of coverage of JFK’s spoiled son and his poor choice of a landing strip.
Sound off yourselves! What do you think about NASA’s current state, goals, and future? Should we spend more time going to the moon? Mars? Whatever!
Great Article I Should Have Included
From Space.com about the next 40 years of space travel.
NASA is underappreciated
I don’t think NASA gets enough credit. I’ve heard about the way the press loved them in the 60’s (I wasn’t born until 77), but that’s not today’s press. Now that NASA’s been more firm about going for the sake of discovery rather than just winning a race, the politicians have been less enthusiastic.
The mainstream press also seems to think the only NASA related news worth reporting are their mistakes. It’s true that the Mars landers have had more than their share of troubles, but where are the reports on the more successful projects? I’ve never seen Deep Space One or NEAR reported on the local news, but when something expensive crashes, we hear about it. (Please keep in mind that I’m Canadian; it’s not even our tax dollars that were lost!)
Plus, only reporting the tax dollars “wasted” is unfair. (I saw “wasted” because NASA takes great pains to learn from every mistake.) Deep Space 1 was expensive, and it’s working beautifully. It’s got working ion engines for Pete’s sake! There are 17 nwe technologies on board that thing, and I haven’t heard about anything but successful tests. The press should start giving NASA fair representation so the general public and lobby groups can make fair judgements when telling the politicians how to spend taxpayer money.
NASA in the news …
You have to remember that things that worked right don’t sell papers … things that go boom do. I know that is a rather sad statement about the human race, but it has been that way for a long time and shows no signs of changing anytime soon
Ah yes…
I forgot the old news adage: If it bleeds, it leads.