[My Personal Insanity]

I'm certain right now that the families and friends of the astronauts are
not thinking about much except their own grief, and I wouldn't blame
them, my heart goes out to them, and to the NASA guys in the press
confrence today who sounded like they were about to break down
crying.

But also I feel angry currently, as this re-entry disaster underscores
to me a feeling I've had for a long time: With the moon landings done
and over with, and unmanned probes more and more sophisticated,
(even if they sometimes fail), it seems as if people no longer care
in the least about futhering space MANNED travel. Shuttle missions are
just that, getting to and from earth orbit. We're no longer pushing the
boundaries.

NASA is underfunded and no longer has a sense of direction. The
Russians are having even more acute budget problems, and yet
if NASA decides to ground for a while because of this, the ISS
has to rely on the Russians for supplies and transport, especially
escape.

And don't get me started on the ISS itself. We don't need more
orbiting laboratories. Those are nice but they aren't getting us to
new places, or making it cheaper to get to current space-places.

Earth is a great place but we can't stay on it forever.

Above all I hope that this disaster doesn't convince people that we
should just throw in the towel and stick to unmanned sattelites and
probes, just accept that our race will live and eventually die
on this single rock in so vast a universe.
_________________
[url=http://www.surfacezero.net/BottleFairy-Sensei-san(J).mp3][/url]
aaa, oshiete sensei-san...

[5th GHG E.G. Mine]