Shuttle Launch

Pepsi shuttle saluteThe Space Shuttle was launched on Indepedence Day for the first time ever and I have posted some photos taken at the Johnson Space Center almost three years ago to commemorate. The photo on the left is of a 25 year old can of Pepsi given to me that long ago by my Uncle David who purchased it at Edwards AFB and brought it home for me. More about the can and another picture in my Flickr photostream.

It’s a great thing that they finally got back up after almost a year off and hopefully the crew and vehicle both make it home safely. I think everyone understands the risks the astronauts take when they fly and we should all be thankful that they do it. I think we need to keep building the space station and any other future projects. Quite frankly, I’m surprised we aren’t further along at this time than we are. I thought as a kid I’d be able to eventually travel to some orbiting space platform as a geezer, but I doubt that’s in the cards now. I guess we can chalk that up to the Cold War ending; which in turn ended the Space Race.

No one knows if one of the sci-fi scenarios we see in films like Armageddon or Deep Impact will happen in our lifetimes or even in several generations. I’d like to believe that the work we do today helps us in a future where that does happen because probability suggests it will happen.

Of course, that assumes we don’t destroy ourselves fighting over oil.