R.I.P. Gene Cernan

[moreluck]

Eugene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon, dead at 82

 

[rod]

The end of an era. I never did understand why we spent so much money getting there just to beat the Russians but then just abandoned it. I understand the International Space Station and all but you would have thought us building at least a small shack on the moon would have been in order. I have a clear memory of driving a UPS Ford Econoline over to Fargo one night and looking up at the moon and thinking "Gee--there are guys standing up there right now".

 

[rod]

R.I.P. Rocketman

 

[oldngray]

 

[FrigidFTSup]

The end of an era. I never did understand why we spent so much money getting there just to beat the Russians but then just abandoned it. I understand the International Space Station and all but you would have thought us building at least a small shack on the moon would have been in order. I have a clear memory of driving a UPS Ford Econoline over to Fargo one night and looking up at the moon and thinking "Gee--there are guys standing up there right now".

Whenever I've been in Fargo I've thought "I hate my life right now"

 

[FrigidFTSup]

Really good documentary on him on Netflix. Those Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts were bad asses

 

[rod]

Whenever I've been in Fargo I've thought "I hate my life right now"

There is nothing to stop the wind in Fargo except maybe one barbwire fence

 

[Catatonic]

The end of an era. I never did understand why we spent so much money getting there just to beat the Russians but then just abandoned it.

The Space Race was the political cover for the real race and that was the race for intercontinental missiles during the Cold War.

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

The Space Race was the political cover for the real race and that was the race for intercontinental missiles during the Cold War.

We're going back though, this time to pillage.
Google's lunar xprize has a a few companies planning launches soon to win their 20 million dollar 1st prize payout. Mining operations are supposedly the end game, possibly helium 3 for "clean" nuclear energy.

 

[MC4YOU2]

I recall politicians touting "clean coal" for a year or two, then finally admitting, OK, there's really no such thing as clean coal.

I live within a days drive of the Hanford reactor, which has had many leaks in the storage drums there for years. And the plant was shut down long ago. I know nothing about the helium 3 version of nuclear power. Is it actually clean? I wonder. I do know that I don't trust a word from power industry lobbyists in governmental positions or their paid congressmen anymore.

 

[Catatonic]

I recall politicians touting "clean coal" for a year or two, then finally admitting, OK, there's really no such thing as clean coal.

I live within a days drive of the Hanford reactor, which has had many leaks in the storage drums there for years. And the plant was shut down long ago. I know nothing about the helium 3 version of nuclear power. Is it actually clean? I wonder. I do know that I don't trust a word from power industry lobbyists in governmental positions or their paid congressmen anymore.

The blooming of a recent cynicist?

 

[MC4YOU2]

The blooming of a recent cynicist?

I'd like to think I'm a realist. But, that's what most thinking people want to believe.

I see there's a recent push to return to nuclear power as the answer to carbon emissions, but we haven't forgotten about the many meltdowns yet. And, no one wants leaking drums of radioactive waste in their backyard.