Lest we forget...

[kengr]

31 years ago on this date the *last* Apollo mission was launched.

And currently we'd need close to a decade to launch a similar mission.

Comments

[kshandra]

*sings a rousing chorus of Jordin Kare's "Bloody Bastards" to cheer you up*

We WILL go back.

[kengr]

Not familiar with that one...

[kshandra]

So here's to Conestoga, Pegasus and Liberty
And all the rest who'll join us in the race
For we're proud of NASA's heroes, but we'd rather raise our glass
To those hard-nosed bloody bastards that will get us into space.

It's a wonderful number about the various private organizations trying to make space travel real. It's on Jordin's Fire In The Sky, which any self-respecting hard-science freak really should own. (It's apparently scheduled for re-release soon.)

[kengr]

Well, if it's a cassette, I won't be getting it. Too many old filk cassettes that I don't dare play any more. :-(

If it's a CD, that's a different story.

[kshandra]

With any luck, the re-release will be CD and tape both; the original came out before filk CDs were a common thing (indeed, I don't think I'd seen any filk on CD at that point).

[squiggly-76.livejournal.com]

We should be going to Mars (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684835509/qid=1070867416/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-4332227-6594425?v=glance&s=books). We could do it in ten years if we made it a national priority.

[kengr]

Yeah, and look what making the Moon a national priority did for us.

We need to get into space and *stay* there. Not just do a "feat" and then get bored.

One thing that may help is that the "war on terrorism" is resulting in the need for a *lot* more satellites. That *may* provide the demand get civilian launch systems doing better.