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"with each Shuttle mission now bespangled in a dazzling assortment of scientific experiments, like so many talismans against budget reduction." Now that's a be
by alexissantos 10y ago
"with each Shuttle mission now bespangled in a dazzling assortment of scientific experiments, like so many talismans against budget reduction."
Now that's a beautiful line.
- tanderson92 10y agoI was hoping Maciej would make the following crack, which of course he did: > And of course, there was John Glenn, monitored inside and out, blood tested, urine sampled, entire organism analyzed for signs of accelerated aging. Close observation of the Senator suggested that there might not be any medical obstacles to launching the entire legislative branch into space, possibly the most encouraging scientific result of the mission. Bravo.
- zardo 10y agoThe replacement rocket to nowhere, the SLS (senate launch system) should be able to lift them all at once.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- throwanem 10y agoAnother: > You know you're in trouble when the Russians are adding safety features to your design.
- pjungwir 10y agoI am reading Ben Bova's 1985 Privateers novel, where the Soviet Union controls all access to space, and a private American company is trying to find a niche. Almost all his other solar-system novels were written after the fall of the USSR, and I think nowadays he excludes Privateers from the series (a retrospective reboot). But perhaps it was prescient after all! Btw it is a pretty fun book. It does feel a bit like Atlas Shrugged in Space, with a good 80s struggle between Freedom and Communism, but if that doesn't bother you, it is a fun read and gives some food for thought about how an off-Earth economy might get started.