Shuttle launch today

My neighbor is retired from NASA. We were outside raising our beers in salute (and violating the open-container law, but fuck it).

 

Dyepr, this may come as a shock to you but NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory &c. employ real live rocket scientists. They know what they're doing.

 

Except when they don't.

 

Let me guess ... you're the type of person who, back in the day, would have refused to get in an airplane because it might crash.

 

I don't get jealous much but I'm jealous of you today. That's one of the things I want to do most, watch a shuttle takeoff in person. And it's like you never know when one will be the last one.

 

Except that airplane travel is the safest mode.

Shuttle travel? Let's see: two explosions, numerous lengthy delays in take-off and landing, huge costs, enormous damage to the ozone layer when the thing does launch, etc. The list goes on and on.

Maybe if the media stopped being "rah-rah, space" and did their jobs, more of that would be known to the public.

 

Did I just hear 2muchcoffeeman volunteer to host the first SportsJournalists.com Shuttle Launch Party?



Seriously, I want to see one before they're done. One way or another, I'm heading down to Florida one of these times.

Uhhh, dumbass, the purpose of the delays is to PREVENT disasters. What do you want them to do, just say, "fuck it, damn the torpedoes, here we go!!"

The damage to the ozone layer from space launches is negligible. Neg. Lige. Able. Probably 1/10,000th the amount of ozone damage that results from the use of flourocarbon-propelled jock itch spray.

 

Glad it got up in the air and all that.

It's still all completely lost on me, and always has been.

There are a hell of a lot more pressing issues on our sphere before we try to get a leg up on what's out there.

 

Dear ABC:
Stop cluttering up the launches with all the damn telemetry while the launch images are in a tiny box.
This isn't a Fox baseball game.
Rant over.

 

Um, no, fucktard. I was responding to the "point" about airplane travel. That response came when I was being accused of exaggerating the risks and NEVER wanting the thing to launch. Nothing like ignoring all previous context, eh, Starman?

If the ozone damage is negligible, then some segment of the media fucked up with a story about said extreme damage a few years ago. Tracking it down at this point is pointless, but it was floating around out there not that long ago.

 

"some segment of the media fucking up?" Impossible.

The overwhelming, 99.99995 percent, proportion of damage to the ozone layer, comes from stuff that goes on right at the earth's surface. Automotive emissions and chemicals released into the air through plastics and other manufacturing processes.

In fact, the shuttle's main engines (not the solid boosters) operate off the combustion of liquid oxygen and hydrogen, from which the byproducts are dihydrogen oxide (h2O) and ozone (O3), so in fact, the shuttle may very well produce more ozone in the upper atmosphere than it disrupts. Maybe for the sake of the ozone layer, we ought to launch a shuttle every week. :

 

God speed.