The guys at NASA did this death defying feat with the same computing power I had in my bedroom when I was 14. They went to the moon with the computing power of a Commodore 64, I was looking for the earliest of digital porn...
The number one song on the radio was this...
Baseball games were interrupted... And the players took to the field to salute the astronauts and lead the crowds in the singing of "America, The Beautiful".
The world watched and the world held it's collective breath, praying to numerous deities. Hell, Aldrin gave Shepard communion in the capsule. If I could ever envision a time when I would look to an imaginary friend to help out, it would be as I was about to step foot in an environment completely alien.
Kennedy said we were going to do it, and America got it's shit together and did it.
Let's flash forward 45 years...
The number one song on the radio is "Rude" by MAGIC! (All caps and an exclamation point to really mean it). It is a stupid pop song about a skeezy looking musician who accuses a father of being rude because he does not want his baby girl marrying a skeezy looking musician. If the musician was smart, he would know that "groupies" are definitely in the "perk" column... Getting married whilst on your meteoric rise and groupies are bountiful - That falls into the "Dipshit" column, hombre. Unless you are a drummer...
I can not imagine anything of a scientific related nature interrupting ESPN... or ESPN2... or The Ocho... or ESPN Classic.. We will get a press conference and headline news for Lebron James going back to Cleveland, but something tells me that, if asked, he would not be able to tell you what NASA stands for, or possibly what it even is.
Like Tom Hanks in "Apollo 13", I too wonder "When are we going back and who will that be?" Wondering often leads to discovery of certain truths... This is not always a pleasant thing.
I can prognosticate with great certainty that we will never go back to the moon. "We" being the operative word and "we" meaning the United States of America. NASA is gutted. NASA in it's role of "manned space exploration", for all intensive purposes, is dead. The majority of press or recognition NASA receives is that of tragedy or failure. Or some psycho astronaut lady driving all night, wearing a diaper, with murder in mind...
What has been in the news cycle longer... Duck Dynasty or the fact that there is a rover on Mars? Score one for misogynistic, bible thumping Redneck douches.
This is not to say humans will never make it back to outer space. There is even a remote possibility we could get lunar someday... In the year 2525... See what I did there?
It will be left to the corporations. The guys like Branson and Musk. The guys who have made their fortunes and now want to go forward and reach further. The sad fact is that out of all the rich bastards in the world, those are the two I can think of that have vision beyond that of the bottom line. I am sure there are maybe four other guys and gals... So... 6.
Now that we have identified that science and exploring spirit are sorely lacking... Like a true American, I wanna blame someone for it...
Well, let's see... Maybe if we did not have to waste time in a SCIENCE class teaching fucking fairy tales like "creationism" and "intelligent design"... maybe that would help.
Maybe if we did not have one of two major political parties be so vehemently against anything scientific, that could help. As a wise man said... "No bucks, no Buck Rogers". Funding is what makes rockets fly. Republicans want to kill the frikkin' planet, why would they give two shits about space???
Maybe if we challenged the kids. These would be the kids who have the collective intelligence of the world at their fingertips and are looking at the latest in digital porn... Wait... Seriously, our "standards" of education are insanely inadequate since "Every Child Left Behind" had it's way with curriculum across the nation. Thanks, Retarded Cowboy President!
For every article of promise, showing intellect and scientific thinking by the youth of today, I read a gazillion others that make me think we are not only doomed, but unless it is trending on Twitter, most under the age of 21 won't notice.
"You have 140 characters until self destruct",
d
This blog brought to you by White Zombie, Jay & Silent Bob, Rush, Zager & Evans, AC/DC, MAGIC! (sadly), Queensryche, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, The Rolling Stones, The Presidents of The United States of America, Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble, Ray Charles, Sheryl Crow (butchering "D'yer Mak'er"), and Cheap Trick. The artists listed, in no way, shape or form, contributed to this verbal diarrhea, but were playing in the background. Rock on.
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