An NPR story caught my ear today.  It seems one of the engineers who argued vigorously against the launch of the space shuttle Challenger in the buildup to that tragic event recently died.

In the investigation following the explosion, the evidence he and his colleagues presented showed quite clearly how his “superiors” had refused to respect the advice of experts for political pressure’s sake.  That’s how I remember it, too.

It was, as I also recall, the case that no one went to the penitentiary over it.  But anyone who was watching during that time surely knows they should have.  [Read the rest of this entry...]

Writing this some 12 hours after my self-imposed deadline of 4:00pm on Tuesday for making blog entries.

Can’t tell you what a pain in the a-word self imposed deadlines are.

E.g., I’ve only yesterday decided that the self-imposed deadline for finishing my next book and doing a promo bike ride to promote it was just too ambitious.  Have decided to hold off on setting up the bike ride until the book is finished.

Am using the original deadline as my goal for the book, though.  Meantime trying to keep these blog posts coming, even if holding little content.

goal:  develop the habit.

Apollo actually took human beings to the moon and back.  Several times.
Star Wars, Star Trek, sand many other fictional pieces tried to envision a future opened up to us by the promise of Apollo.  This is a theme which continues to reverberate through popular culture and always will.
But Apollo is ancient history.  The space program beyond earth orbit today is an endangered species.
Another prevalent theme in popular culture spins more off the mystical powers of Star Wars’ “Force,” than the high-tech solutions to everyday problems seen in Star Trek.  Science Fiction, probably the most popular form of speculation about the future when I was young, reflects upon Apollo.  Fantasy, the most popular pop-fiction today, I suspect, calls entirely on magic.
That’s like Voodoo.  Or, though most hate to hear it, Christianity.
I don’t know where young people are in this struggle between science and the traditional religions, which I think is what is going on, but the politics of the Republican party in this election year casts a definite pallor over the optimism that characterized the apex of the Apollo era.  Or, at least, the optimism then held in the scientific community.
Apollo has morphed into a satellite driven technological society whose communication resources were unimagined when I grew up.  Young people are more involved in that technology than I ever imagined.
But I’m not sure what to make of the touch screen technology they are so comfortable with these days.  Is it really an advance to have moved so thoroughly to the icon from the keyboard?  It seems like moving from the typewriter to the pencil to me.  It reminds me an awful lot of the waving of wands used so powerfully by Harry Potter.  I can’t help wonder what chances the Apollo 13 crew would have had if the ground crew at the time had modern sensitivities.
Of course, they would have had to have had the technology of today.  It’s all very mysterious.  Perhaps I should just have more trust in The Force.

Been holding traffic up,

have you?

Passing lane ahead;

They’ll all try to get around.

Worry not about who you’ll kill,

Rev your engine up, my man.

By going like hell,

stop them you will.

But be careful

The distance is short

And there’s a curve at the end.

And die a fiery death

you, too, can.

Buddha Bubba raves.