The Word B

for as long back as i can remember i have been intrigued by space and space flight. as a young boy, i was always dreaming about landing on the moon and space shuttle adventures throughout the solar system. when the challenger blew up in 1986 i was devestated. it was one of those moments you never forget, i can recall the time, day, place, and circumstances vividly. two years ago when the columbia disintegrated upon re-entry i was shocked, but not nearly as gutted as i was in 86. this i think had something to do with becoming more jaded and cynical with age.
so it is no wonder that i have been following the latest space shuttle adventure very closely whenever i hear any mention of it on the news or read it in the paper. but this time around i am a lot more skeptical and not very surprised by the fact that there seems to be several problems with the discovery space shuttle, as it is floating through space at about 30,000 miles per hour. NASA has had nearly 2 1/2 years to sort out any potential problems with the space craft with an expense nearly 2 billion dollars, and still they can't seem to get it right in the most obvious of places, such as the glue in the heat shields and now the insulation moulding around the windscreen. rather than spending all that money to fix these things, i think they should have just wheeled the thing around the corner, at cape canaveral, to the local smash repairs. it would have cost them maybe a few hundred bucks and taken only a few weeks.
seriously, it would be a tense time to be one of those discovery shuttle astronauts sitting around the international space station pondering re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. it would be one of the best seats in the house, starring back at your home planet about 2000 miles above sea level, but certainly full of anxiety. yet, for some reason, i seem to have this feeling of "she'll be right." come on, it is NASA we are talking about here. certainly these guys know what they are doing. certainly, they can overcome nearly any obstacle. they put man on the moon. they have put many people into space in the past. yes, they have been responsible for some all time big fuck ups, but that is in the past. i saw the apollo 13 movie and those guys mad it back safe and sound in a tuna can. so i have no doubt that the crew of the discovery space shuttle will return in one piece, safe and sound. regardless, i will be following the saga as it unfolds