Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for December 28, 2021

The mystery left when they started doing “tourist” flights

…and that’s when another Apollo 13 comes along (better that than the Challenger disaster)

Of course, the skis are not necessary.

It’s time for those goofballs to experience re-entry first hand.

Well, I’m excited about the James Webb Telescope……

Surfing the gravitational waves.

It’s actually funny watching these new launches with the astronauts pretending to be doing something – when it’s the computer that’s running everything now.

Almost every explorer is driven by a need to do something NEW and DIFFERENT.

Gonna be a bumpy pass through that belt of little digital comm satellites that have begun to interfere with views of the cosmos. Put a few hundred more in orbit and sun rises and sets will look like Hollywood versions of rainbows.

I read an article today that the ISS will be abandoned around 2028 when we put a replacement in orbit, as well as space stations from other countries will be up there. A real estate war in space is almost upon us!!

If they pull out a space-wakeboard next, I’m outta here.

Hal, wake up, Hal! with a bicycle built for two not ski-is built for 2. What do you expect for wages outta this world…

My NASA moon-landing haiku:

We came once in peace.

Then we came back five more times.

Then we stopped coming.

Space tourists have not earned the right to call themselves astronauts.

I am in an ethical quandary. I love space exploration but am conscious of the damage we are potentially doing to it — not unlike that which early explorers did to the lands they “discovered.” Commenters are also right that the whole space tourism thing takes away from the majesty of it all. And yet … if someone offered me a ride on one of those ships, I’d jump at the chance.

Turn on the thrusters and toasty tourists.

Where are the cowboy hats?!?

Wait until they get to the ski jump and a launched… to infinity and beyond, as they say.

The problem is somebody forgot to finance any spacecraft for NASA after the shuttle, and this is what happens when the “next generation” of space craft is left up to private enterprise – it’s all about making a mega-buck.

There is a real mystery: how did they resurrect the Space Shuttle, which retired 10 years ago?

When we move from Pioneers to Vacation-eers, we are finally ready to start making money on this endevor. I don’t really care all that much who is the first to Mars or even the Moon, I really want to know, when I can go.

They were formerly employed by Cypress Gardens

I’d be more impressed if they were playing tennis

Not for me. I still have that sense of wonder.

The ‘awe and mystery’ are still there, but as is usual, just beyond where would-be adventurers are playing.

There is so much space junk left up there, that it’s getting to be dangerous. Our space station just had to do a maneuver to miss one. One little nut or bolt can do a lot of damage. It’s worse than a bullet. Losing the pressure in a space ship or the space station can be fatal. There is also many large objects that are no longer of use. Some will have their orbits erode to the point of crashing to Earth. Hopefully, those will burn up, but some are large enough that they won’t.

Alas, the shuttle is long gone. Manned space exploration is less common than it used to be.

I love the smell of meteors in the morning

It smells like victory

Cue the “Ride of the Valkyries” soundtrack

Unfortunately the U.S. thought ‘small’ with just a moon landing as a goal. They should have just been a first step towards exploring the solar system and beyond.

The future of space travel is retirement communities in near-Earth orbit. No worries about falling, body parts not subject to sagging or wrinkling, super-controlled environment (thus safe from plagues like COVID), endless supply of free solar energy, and a view that can’t be beat. Just don’t get too squeamish about where all the recycling ends up.

Man, that shuttle program had an awful lot of budget cuts…

When they open a ski resort on Olympus Mons, I’ll be there.

I miss the Space Shuttle

How much fuel and other resources are they going to consume, pouring more CO2 into the atmosphere, so the uber-wealthy can joyride in space?

Don’t let go!

Maybe they should have mooned the James Webb telescope!

The shuttle program is older now than the airplane was when the shuttle program launched.

Snow-skiing…water-skiing…even sand-skiing. But…nothing-skiing??

Kind of funny but outdated. The space shuttles have not been flying for over a decade unfortunately. A Spacex Dragon capsule would be more relevant.

I think that faded way back with the first golf driving range on the Moon.