It's been a while, since my last post, but I have a pretty good excuse. I was in in space. I know what you're thinking: 'Holy crap, this dude is cool, he must be like Buzz Lightyear or something'. Well, I'm not, he already went a couple years ago...I wasn't even invited, but its ok, we're still friends.
That was back in 2008, but now it was my turn. We launched on July 8, the last ever NASA shuttle launch, and Atlantis made its way though the atmosphere into space, mission STS-135. It wasn't quite as graceful as the Millennium Falcon, but pretty good fun. So why was I up there? To work on the ISS of course. At present, it looks like a TIE Fighter. Sure, that's sorta cool, but TIE Fighters were not space stations, they were star-fighters. So my mission was to persuade the crew to alter the construction plans slightly and make it look more like a proper space station...like say, the Death Star.
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The ISS - Is: a space station. Is not: a star-fighter
Does look like: a TIE Fighter. Should look like: a Death Star |
Unfortunately my Jedi Mind Trick isn't as powerful as I thought, so upon waving my hand like the Queen and uttering: 'You will make this look like the Death Star', one of the crew patted me on the head and gave me a lollipop. Mission: Failed - The plans remained unchanged. And so after nearly 2 weeks of somersaulting, I re-entered the atmosphere early yesterday morning as Atlantis landed back on Earth, the NASA shuttle program finished.
You didn't believe me did you? Ok...so the above events may be a little
exaggerated, but I was in space...technically. (I'll get there one day) |
But today marks another milestone in space history as well. 42 years ago Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon (closely followed by the original Buzz). Coincidence that the time between first moon walk and the last NASA shuttle is 42 years? I think not - perhaps that's the meaning of life? So what's next for the moon? Well Shackleton Energy (Texas) plan on mining it (cheese power?), Japan plan on setting up a robot base (that can only end badly, ever seen Planet of the Apes? Well this will be Moon of the Robots, and you know what robots do...make more robots, then the moon will become too heavy, fall out of orbit, tides will go crazy then BOOM moon cuddles the Earth and we all die...good work Japan), and North Korea want to own capture the moon and own it...The other option is tourism. Virgin Lunar anyone?
Moon Hotel...in Singapore.
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On that note, Richard Branson has discussed the idea of a hotel on the moon (is there anything he hasn't thought of? It's the real life equivalent of "Simpson's did it!"). I personally hope he does it, that would be one of the best holidays ever. But that is still many years away, however Virgin Galactic is set to commence tourist space flights in the near future, and you could take a ride for just $200,000. What's more, Muse have announced they'd like to perform a gig in space, more recently, they pondered the idea of recording a song or film clip in space. Apparently they're hoping Branson might give them a free trip. Any chance I could tag along?
But seriously, space has gotta be the coolest place on Earth...or rather just beyond Earth...surrounding it. Black holes, supernovas, nebulas, galaxies, cosmic radiation and space dust. Did I mention Star Wars? Yeah, it's in space as well. One day we'll all be able to go to space just as easily as we can go to the movies, but until then, I guess we'll have to settle with watching Star Wars, playing with space LEGO, and bargaining with Richard Branson for a cheaper flight.
In other news, very belated poll results. When it comes to favourite musical instrument, apparently no one (out of a massive 5 votes...very reliable information) likes acoustic guitars or trumpets. Electric guitars, drums, and bass tied second (last) with 1 vote each. But the winner was piano, way out in front with double the votes of second place...i.e. 2. The new poll asks what transport you'd prefer to go to space in.
Chris
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