William Shatner sets record in space with Blue Origin spaceflight
Source: CBS News
William Shatner, the 90-year-old veteran of countless imaginary space voyages playing Star Trek's Captain Kirk, blasted off for real Wednesday, becoming the oldest person to reach the final frontier in a PR bonanza for Jeff Bezos and his rocket company Blue Origin. Over the course of about 10 minutes, Shatner and three crewmates took off atop a hydrogen-fueled rocket, climbed to edge of space more than 62 miles up and enjoyed three to four minutes of weightlessness, along with spectacular views of Earth, before plunging back to a gentle parachute-assisted touchdown.
The flight marked only the second crewed launch of a New Shepard capsule since Bezos, his brother Mark, 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk and Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen took off July 20 on the company's first such flight. Shatner eclipsed Funk's age record by eight years and John Glenn's mark before that by 13. "I want to see space, I want to see the Earth, I want to see what we need to do to save Earth," Shatner told Gayle King on "CBS Mornings" before launch. "I want to have a perspective that hasn't been shown to me before. That's what I'm interested in seeing."
Boshuizen and de Vries paid undisclosed sums for their seats aboard the New Shepard spacecraft, but Shatner was an invited guest of Blue Origin. Powers, a former NASA flight controller now Blue Origin vice president of flight operations, flew as a company representative. While the New Shepard rocket and capsule are only capable of up-and-down sub-orbital flights, Shatner and his crewmates endured the same liftoff accelerations space shuttle astronauts once felt about three times the normal force of gravity and even higher "G loads" during descent back into the lower atmosphere.
Even so, Shatner and his crewmates were considered passengers, not astronauts, aboard the automated New Shepard. But professional astronauts nonetheless welcomed them to the brotherhood of space travelers. Especially Shatner. "I'm impressed. I mean, he's 90 years old and showing that somebody at his age can actually fly to space," Matthias Maurer, a European Space Agency astronaut launching to the International Space Station at the end of the month, told CBS News.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/william-shatner-blue-origin-space-flight/
Congrats to him.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)These are people who are worth at minimum 10-15 million, Shatner is at about 100 million.
It's starting to feel like the late 1800's or the 1980's in terms of what the media is trying to push and that's not a good sign for the rest of us.
I eagerly await the return of figureheads proudly proclaiming, "greed is good" (sarcasm)
Calista241
(5,586 posts)launched the science fiction genre to the masses. The synergy between him going to space, and his acting history as a starship captain is irresistible to the media and people as a whole.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)I hate to break it to you but he's not actually a starship captain. It was quite literally one job of many for him for three years + the trek movies, and one he was not particularly skilled at performing, in most critics opinions. He made much of his 100 million by riding a wave he was very, very lucky to catch.
This is part of the problem - celebrities, especially wealthy ones, are boosted to a position in our society that often they simply don't deserve. As an example he - the real life actor Shatner, not the character he played at work - advocates for putting autistic children through conversion therapy so they appear more "acceptable".
getagrip_already
(14,750 posts)Yes, he was apparently an insufferable womanizer and generally a jerk to his coworkers.
But the character of kirk is known and loved by tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions. He didn't buy his seat. It was a paid gig for an actor in a way.
Let the legend have his day.
prodigitalson
(2,422 posts)but the broader popular culture as well. I hate the whole billionaires in space thing. But Shatter in space is pretty cool.
wryter2000
(46,045 posts)I've seen him in episodes of Thriller (great episode with the house overlooking the ocean with mirrors that trapped people inside), Outer Limits, and Twilight Zone. He was the passenger who saw the gremlin on the plane wing, a very famous episode.
I believe after Star Trek he played a cop in a show.
I'm just glad he got back okay. We don't need for Capt. Kirk to die during lift off.
ShazzieB
(16,397 posts)It ran from 1982 to 1985, with Shatner playing the title character. I watched it regularly but don't remember a whole lot about it, except that I found it reasonably entertaining.
Shellback Squid
(8,916 posts)wryter2000
(46,045 posts)IIRC, he's always worn a toupee.
OldBaldy1701E
(5,128 posts)But I believe he got hair implants before he did 'Star Trek The Motion Picture' in '78. I know they were pretty visible during that 'swimming' scene in Star Trek IV. All part of the entertainment game.
wryter2000
(46,045 posts)That makes sense. I always figured it was a career necessity for a leading man actor, not a matter of vanity.
OldBaldy1701E
(5,128 posts)It became all the rage for a time. Anything to try and keep the look that got you the work, after all. (It is kind of sad though... there are times when an aging performer doesn't seem able to remain objective when 'that ship sailsl'. I always felt it was far better to redefine your image as opposed to being dragged from it kicking and screaming. Shatner has managed to age well and to keep allowing his look to change without seeming like he is desperate. Smart man.)
ShazzieB
(16,397 posts)Shatner's worn hairpieces and/or wigs for a very long time, at least since the 70s, if not before. He definitely wore them in all the Star Trek movies.
Whoever his wigmaker(s) is/are, they have done a very good job for him over the years. His hair has almost always looked very natural and not as obviously fake as most toupees, with the styles changing in keeping with current fashion. The T.J. Hooker hair was very 80s, which is probably why it looks a bit much now.
Ray Bruns
(4,097 posts)Heather Locklear
Response to ShazzieB (Reply #32)
Ray Bruns This message was self-deleted by its author.
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)(and I suppose it made "Heather Locklear" a household name for some households )
And then there was "Denny Crane" in "Boston Legal" that he seemed to enjoy the most...
Paladin
(28,257 posts)It still turns up on cable channels, late at night.
Sgent
(5,857 posts)IMHO was as Denny Crane in Boston Legal
LT Barclay
(2,603 posts)The show became a forum for some of the greatest liberal rants ever broadcast courtesy of James Spader's character. And in the end those two got married as some scheme.
Little Bill Daggett: I don't deserve this... to die like this. I was building a house.
Will Munny: Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.
[aims gun]
Little Bill Daggett: I'll see you in hell, William Munny.
Will Munny: Yeah.
[fires]
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)More power to a progressive future.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)Shatner the person in June of this year: "Don't like my show on Russian television? Don't watch it."
[link:https://www.thenational.scot/news/19410372.william-shatner-attacks-political-bbc-debate-new-show-rt/|]
He finely honed his skill for appearing apolitical, including not speaking out against injustices. When Ted Cruz said he thought Kirk would've been a Republican, this was Shatner's reply:
"Star Trek wasnt political. Im not political; I cant even vote in the US" (he's Canadian)
Really? Star Trek wasn't political? It was f@#$king SOCIALIST!
About the only stance I've seen him strongly push is that autistic children should be put through conversion therapy so they appear more "normal" - despite an entire community of autistic adults trying to educate him for many, many years. He simply blocks most of them.
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)are politically liberal and active and make themselves well heard on social media, and that includes George Takei, who is oft-quoted on DU, along with Walter Koenig, Patrick Stewart, Levar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo, Jeri Ryan, etc., etc.
Shatner has been more into "Shatner", which is his right, but he is who he is.
And as a sidenote, I just found this!!!!
Link to tweet
TEXT
@timruss2
Bidens flagging poll numbers because of the pandemic??! Gimmie a fucking break. How about Qanon, anti-vax, anti-mask, Trump asses, Sturges 250k un-vaxed unmasked bike rallies, stadiums full of giant maskless crowds ?! THATS the reason for the ongoing pandemic!!
8:38 AM · Oct 12, 2021
Link to tweet
TEXT
@timruss2
His inane rants, flat out lies and hysteria promoting rhetoric are routine whats frightening is the support he got from Rep Chuck Grassley who actually shared the stage with Trump at this rally.
Trump Horrifies World at Most Alarming Rally Ever
🛡️ Get AtlasVPN for just $1.39/month (86% discount) at https://atlasv.pn/pakman--Donald Trump's latest rally, in Iowa with major Republican politicians, was...
youtube.com
3:04 AM · Oct 13, 2021
Link to tweet
TEXT
@timruss2
You know who has a 6 times stricter vaccine policy than Bidens? Yeah hypocrite FOX NEWS!! And Tucker Carlson tried to deny it. The company memo says explicitly what their policy is. That even includes masks !!!
Despite that they preach not to take precautions against COVID.
3:08 AM · Oct 13, 2021
Link to tweet
tim russ
@timruss2
·
Oct 13, 2021
An non-partisan., professional, election official with an A+ rating in a county that Trump WON by 64%, just quit because the MAGA cultists harassed, demeaned and protested against her so badly. Shell be replaced by a Trump loving Qanon Freak now- for the next election !
Image
tim russ
@timruss2
Right under our noses folks
5:00 AM · Oct 13, 2021
Link to tweet
TEXT
@timruss2
The latest Q conspiracy that Im sure Trump is behind is . The Chinese changed the outcome of the 2020 election in China by using their wireless thermostats. And yes .there are 10s of thousands of people here in the US who believe it .
5:19 AM · Oct 13, 2021
Tuvok!!!!!
ShazzieB
(16,397 posts)It's controversial, and from what little I know about it, my impression of it is highly unfavorable, but I don't think it's helpful to call it something it's not.
Conversion therapy applies to various methods that are used to try to make gay people straight, which is a whole different (and thoroughly odious) kettle of fish.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)It was created by the same person who created conversion therapy for gays.
Both are based on blank slate theory, which is why the both fail.
cab67
(2,993 posts)It was absolutely progressive on social issues. It showed the first interracial kiss on television, for example. But while none of the episodes actually glorified militarism, a few came awfully close justifying questionable military decisions of the time. One episode, "A Private Little War," has been seen (credibly, in my opinion) as an allegory of (and justification for) the Vietnam War.
wryter2000
(46,045 posts)I used to love the way the characters made fun of all the World Wars.
"Those world wars were really dumb."
"We've gotten past that, for sure."
progressoid
(49,990 posts)I have no idea how he manages to justify his love of ST with his regressive political and religious beliefs. It boggles my mind.
cab67
(2,993 posts)I've known some hard-core Star Wars fans who today wear red hats and complain non-stop about the newer movies because of their perceived outright political correctness. "There weren't any black stormtroopers!" (As if we actually saw a stormtrooper without a helmet prior to The Force Awakens.)
With Star Trek, it's the same thing. If a program or movie isn't made exactly as a person likes, it's decried as trying to convey a political message and must be made non-canon right away.
(Mind you, I wasn't entirely happy with the sequel trilogy, but I still found it entertaining, and rather than complain non-stop, I chalk it up to "I didn't make the film myself and have no business complaining that the film makers didn't ask me."
progressoid
(49,990 posts)Especially with Star Trek: Discovery and all that homersexial stuff.
relayerbob
(6,544 posts)Ironic that you brought up the late 1800s.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)of the Robber Barons and Wall Street Barons while ensuring countless others suffered, but whatever...
relayerbob
(6,544 posts)Obviously, there are huge things to be done in this world, but turning back the clock isn't one of them
yaesu
(8,020 posts)aggiesal
(8,914 posts)To me these are just joy-rides
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,853 posts)... until these so-called private businesses started doing it.
It fits the right-wing propaganda that government can do no good, but corporations with unelected "strong leaders" are the saviors of humanity.
Response to BumRushDaShow (Original post)
trusty elf This message was self-deleted by its author.
OnlinePoker
(5,719 posts)Deep State Witch
(10,426 posts)As a lifelong Trekkie, I've seen him speak many times. Just recently at AwesomeCon in DC. But, I have never seen him that overwhelmed as he was following the flight.
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)I remarked to myself that luckily he is an actor and was good at recovering from the awe (and some of the emoting was his instinct kicking in to ad lib through it to keep his wits about him).
But I think what seemed to have gotten him the most was the speed of the vehicle. He kept repeating that - "shooting through the blue sky and then suddenly it's all black sky". I think he expected it to be like a "fast plane" and we all know a "plane" ain't going 2000 mph.
They hit just over 351,000 ft (~66.5 miles) at apogee.
Probatim
(2,529 posts)Looked like he was trying to absorb the experience and, for a moment or two, I thought he was put off by their celebrations.
chia
(2,244 posts)turned away from him mid-sentence to spray champagne with the others, and Shatner was left standing there all by himself. I felt bad for him, but maybe that was just me reading something into it that wasn't there.
Budi
(15,325 posts)Shatner sincerely & graciously offered his thanks to Jeff Bezos.
"Profound"
Will be looking forward to Mr Shatner telling his story again & again.
Wow! What a day.
JohnSJ
(92,190 posts)changing experience for him, but the realization of the fragility of our blue planet really hit home
LunaSea
(2,894 posts)Is what author Frank White called the experience.
It happens fairly often.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)to include Shatner as having reportedly "experienced" that.
(they move fast )
tinrobot
(10,900 posts)Methinks he's too full of himself for that.
JohnSJ
(92,190 posts)Permanut
(5,608 posts)There are several people I'd like to get them for as Christmas gifts.
I know several people who wanted to sign up Trump to be one of the first pioneers going to Mars....
70sEraVet
(3,501 posts)for his first flight. In fact, there was a lot of criticism.
But by bringing Shatner on board, and more importantly, the character Shatner portrayed, he literally captured the imagination of millions of people.
myohmy2
(3,163 posts)...agreed...
...but doesn't the Bezos rocket look more like a flying dick than a normal rocket?
...might account for some of the loss of admiration...
...
scipan
(2,351 posts)You might have to watch a couple ads
progressoid
(49,990 posts)hibbing
(10,098 posts)mcar
(42,331 posts)Ray Bruns
(4,097 posts)hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)As an avid fan, thanks for the laugh!
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)when they get older.
DinahMoeHum
(21,788 posts)has/had more scientific value, in that the civilians actually orbited Earth for 3 days
Doodley
(9,091 posts)Is this the best they can do? Stick folk in a canister and fire it up like a rocket to the edge of space and be back in ten minutes?
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)quakerboy
(13,920 posts)It feels like an expensive plane-ride for bragging rights, not space flight.
mainer
(12,022 posts)(I mean, besides the fact he's Shatner.)
If 90-year-olds can do it with such ease, that makes the rest of us feel we're not over the hill yet.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)That was a feat in and of itself! Hes amazing for his age.
Nixie
(16,954 posts)Shanti Shanti Shanti
(12,047 posts)Low earth orbit stuff is for tourists. Deep space mining, thats what we need, and more Europa missions!
Send out the robots.
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)(sorry I had to)
Hekate
(90,686 posts)
who just took this ride. For many, Capt Kirk is William Shatners defining role as the late Leonard Nimoy never escaped being Mr Spock.
Our affection and the inspiration we felt for the Star Trek characters they created override the rest of it. Shatner is 90, for gods sake. He lived long and prospered. Im glad he got to make this trip.
🖖🏽 🖖🏽 🖖🏽 🖖🏽 🖖🏽 🖖🏽
kairos12
(12,861 posts)Paladin
(28,257 posts)Icanthinkformyself
(219 posts)While I do not begrudge 'Captain Kirk' taking his epic voyage I find it very disconcerting that, as usual, we, the taxpayers, get to pay for all of the foundational research allowing people access to space. Yet, who controls the orbits? Well, it ain't US. The billionaires get tax breaks, we get back breaks. The rich get the gold, we get the shaft. The rich go to space and we get to pay for it, since most of them pay nothing into the system. Something seems, oh, I don't know, out of wack? And, oh yeah, when America sends astronauts to space who takes them there? Russia. What the he** is wrong with this picture?
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)You do know that NASA has been working in partnership and contracting out TO private industry since their inception.
The difference between "now" and "the past", is that "in the past", the government contract stipulations were that NASA would stick their name on the vehicles and would have "ownership" of the end product. That is a standard stipulation for most government contracts with private industry - whether they were "building" a booster rocket or "Healthcare.gov". But if you think companies like "Grumman" (now "Northrop-Grumman" ) were merely "ghosts in the machine", then you are mistaken.
I will re-post what I posted at the last launch (SpaceX's "Inspiration4" ) - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2802123
The main difference between "then" and "now" is that back then (before 2011), when NASA did their contracts and used "taxpayer dollars" to pay for it, the government "owned" the end product (the "tech" - hardware, software modules, etc) so that NASA could "slap its name on the side of the vehicle" per the contract stipulation. The actual "non-private industry government employees were essentially SMEs (subject matter experts), researchers, and techies, with many of them becoming Project Managers who helped to define the project goals, do some design, and be able to "define the work product" so that the actual work could be contracted to private entities to build and maintain.
Government employees worked alongside their contractors as part of teams to get the job done.
"Now", it's the same taxpayer dollars used for NASA contracts where the government "defines" the goals and helps with the design elements, but are allowing private industry to "own" their product (probably with some exceptions where the government defines which hardware/software modules are or should be "government-owned" systems), so a contractor (private entity) like SpaceX, can slap THEIR name on the side of the vehicle.
I hate to say but the difference is essentially a "cosmetic" change, outside of the fact that the federal government is not supposed to be a "for-profit" entity where private industry (at least in this field) generally is.
For example, some of the big contractors were -
BOEING - https://www.boeing.com/space/
GRUMMAN (now Northrop-Grumman) - https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/space-legacy/
MCDONNELL-DOUGLAS (eventually gobbled up by Boeing) - https://old.texasarchive.org/a_journey_to_the_moon/mcdonnell_douglas/
GENERAL ELECTRIC - https://www.ge.com/news/reports/the-right-stuff-ge-tech-has-been-at-the-launch
LOCKHEED MARTIN - https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/space-race.html
NORTH AMERICAN/ROCKWELL - https://old.texasarchive.org/a_journey_to_the_moon/north_american_rockwell/
ROCKETDYNE - https://www.rocket.com/who-we-are/history
See this too - https://history.nasa.gov/MHR-5/app_c.htm
For example, the contractors involved with the Saturn rockets (which are still used today) -
This may be instructive - https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4102/contents.htm
And note this from the above link -
The NASA Acquisition Process: Contracting for Research and Development
A SUMMARY OF NASA CONTRACTING PHILOSOPHY
[65] From its establishment to the present, NASA has contracted with the private sector for most of the products and services it uses.
https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4102/ch4.htm
There is this disingenuous fantasy going around that NASA was peopled with nothing but a bunch of GS-7 and GS-9 Civil Service "grunts" running around designing and constructing space craft and there was no "private industry" involved.
And I say this as a now-retired, 30+ year federal employee who worked with "contractors" at my own worksite, at various points throughout my federal career.
There is a lot of fantasy going around about NASA and the federal government in general - particularly when it comes to contractors. But it's easy to go around spouting the "millionaires and billionaires" refrain rather than actually doing some research on the entire U.S. space program and how it got to where it is today.
cab67
(2,993 posts)When was the latest launch? Just curious.
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)Link to tweet
TEXT
@NASAKennedy
🚨 @NASA's #LucyMission is scheduled to launch no earlier than Saturday, Oct. 16 at 5:34am ET on a @ULALaunch Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41. Live mission coverage begins on Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Here's how you can tune in: https://go.nasa.gov/3FEkmYA
Image
3:49 PM · Oct 11, 2021
And they are CONTRACT BUILT (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc) - https://www.ulalaunch.com/
They will be retiring that and will replace it with something else (again contract-built). This has been going on for over 60 years.
cab67
(2,993 posts)Mercury and Gemini used repurposed ICBMs - Redstone (built by Chrysler with Rocketdyne engines) or Atlas (built, at the time at least, by Convair). I've forgotten who built the orbital vehicles themselves.
I fully understand and agree with your overall point. I'd just figured the Apollo system had been retired.
(A friend of mine has been part of the last couple of Mars rover missions, and she and her husband were present for both launches. I've never seen a launch myself, but I spent some time at Rocketdyne in California as a postdoc - we were using their large CT scanner on a dinosaur, believe it or not - and got to watch a Delta rocket engine test, which was very impressive.)
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)And yes, they retire rockets like the Saturn series and replace them, just like they are about to retire the Atlas rockets.
I really miss the shuttles which were - yup - "retired". I think Virgin Galactic is trying to focus on the "space plane" type of tech.
I know there are a number of DUers who previously or even currently work for (or who have family/friends who work for) those private companies and may have been or are involved in some aspect of researching, designing, manufacturing, and testing those parts for use in the space craft that NASA uses.
Hell... NIH ("the government" ) partnered with Moderna ("big pharma" ) to make that vaccine (that I got) - https://www.axios.com/moderna-nih-coronavirus-vaccine-ownership-agreements-22051c42-2dee-4b19-938d-099afd71f6a0.html
Bob Herman
The National Institutes of Health may own intellectual property that undergirds a leading coronavirus vaccine being developed by Moderna, according to documents obtained by Axios and an analysis from Public Citizen.
Why it matters: Because the federal government has an actual stake in this vaccine, it could try to make the vaccine a free or low-cost public good with wide distribution, if the product turns out to be safe and effective.
The big picture: The NIH mostly funds outside research, but it also often invents basic scientific technologies that are later licensed out and incorporated into drugs that are sold at massive profits. The agency rarely claims ownership stakes or pursues patent rights, but that appears to be different with this coronavirus vaccine.
"We do have some particular stake in the intellectual property" behind Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, NIH Director Francis Collins said during an Economic Club interview in May.
Driving the news: New evidence shines light on the extent of NIH's involvement.
NIH and Moderna have researched coronaviruses, like MERS, for several years, and signed a contract this past December that stated "mRNA coronavirus vaccine candidates [are] developed and jointly owned" by the two parties. The contract was not specific to the novel coronavirus, and it was signed before the new virus had been sequenced. Separately, four NIH scientists have filed for a provisional patent application entitled "2019-nCoV vaccine," according to disclosures in a pending scientific paper. Moderna scientists co-authored that paper, but none are listed as vaccine co-inventors. That makes it clear "the government and the public have a stake" in the coronavirus vaccine, said Zain Rizvi, a health law and policy researcher at Public Citizen. "The vaccine would not exist without the intellectual contributions of federal scientists."
(snip)
Decades of science back the creation of mRNA vaccines
The Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 may seem like it developed quickly, but it was built on decades of research by NIHs Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC). The scientists of the VRC have learned from experience by studying the immune system and working on vaccines for other infectious diseases that pose major threats to human health around the world.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized three vaccines to prevent COVID-19. Two of them are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. One of the mRNA vaccines the Moderna vaccine resulted from VRC scientists work with researchers from the Moderna company and other organizations.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines are more than 90% effective at preventing infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. As of June 18, 2021, more than 300 million doses of mRNA vaccines have been given in the United States.
John Mascola, M.D., is the director of the VRC, which is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of NIHs 27 Institutes and Centers. VRC scientists work on safe and effective vaccines for human disease.
https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/nih-vaccine-research-center
They call it "public-private partnerships".
cab67
(2,993 posts)....one of the episodes of the HBO series "From the Earth to the Moon" is about the designers of the Lunar Module at Grumman.
BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)and I think a missed a couple of episodes but did see the rest - and mainly because a few years before that came out, i had a work-related trip to Galveston, TX and the last day when we got out early, a bunch of us drove up to Houston to visit the Johnson Space Center. There was a shuttle up at the time we went so we couldn't go tour Mission Control but it was around when the movie "Apollo 13" had come out, so that (and the movie "Twister" ) was all the buzz at the Center.
They had the Apollo 17 command module there on display (I think that was the one that was there back in 1995/1996 and is still there as I understand) -
I remember someone saying while we were there (or maybe it was narrative that went along with that exhibit) that the amount of memory that the command module systems used back then was what you might typically see for a (digital) wrist watch - at least the ones from the mid-'90s (which have morphed into stuff like Apple watches, etc).
OnlinePoker
(5,719 posts)SpaceX is doing what NASA failed to do since the 70's, innovate. Their reusable boosters are bringing the cost of launches down to manageable levels which is why NASA has chosen them as their main launch provider.
Icanthinkformyself
(219 posts)While I do not begrudge 'Captain Kirk' taking his epic voyage I find it very disconcerting that, as usual, we, the taxpayers, get to pay for all of the foundational research allowing people access to space. Yet, who controls the orbits? Well, it ain't US. The billionaires get tax breaks, we get back breaks. The rich get the gold, we get the shaft. The rich go to space and we get to pay for it, since most of them pay nothing into the system. Something seems, oh, I don't know, out of wack? And, oh yeah, when America sends astronauts to space who takes them there? Russia. What the he** is wrong with this picture?
Nixie
(16,954 posts)hogging and trying to make it about her. Never again. Ill wait until the edits come out so I can listen to them without her strutting and distractions.
hunter
(38,312 posts)Bravo, William Shatner, Bravo!
myohmy2
(3,163 posts)...shat his pants?
...he seemed extremely nervous to me...
...another commercial stunt...
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I have been waiting to type that sentence ever since these guys started "pay as you go space trip." Only of course, they in no way have "paid" for the real cost...
ripcord
(5,399 posts)BumRushDaShow
(128,979 posts)Link to tweet
TEXT
@WilliamShatner
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now & then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.🚀
Image
10:54 AM · Oct 13, 2021
(as blabby as he is on twitter, he had been conspicuously avoiding this subject of the launch)
jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)-James T. Kirk