Posted on 08/02/2005 1:55:12 PM PDT by armyavonlady
At the risk of a thousand lashings with a wet noodle for my first post, am I the only one becoming increasingly frustrated with the main stream media coverage of the Discovery mission to the ISS?
Were I to believe the Chicken Little cries of "the sky is falling" which are broadcast on the major networks, I'd be ready to write to my legislators to demand that we bring these people home and stop funding such a poorly designed and executed program.
Thank goodness I get NASA TV and am able to watch the coverage and listen to the MMT and other briefings with my own ears to get the real info. Or at least the info which is coming straight from the source.
Maybe I'm biased because I work within miles of the Marshall Space Flight Center and I see the replicas of the Saturn V rocket and the shuttle at least a few times a week. I just wish someone, anyone would report something positive about the mission and quit asking the astronauts "how do you feel" questions, as if they're supposed to profess their fear of imminent death and shout obscenities at Wayne Hale from orbit.
I love the space program. I am ready for them to go to Mars.
The MSM won't ever tell you if something good is happening, it's not in their nature.
I expect there will be quite a bit of anxiety as the shuttle re-enters the atmosphere as to whether it will explode in flight like the last one did. The interest regarding that issue will be a lot more intense than whether the latest experiments in space hydroponics- or whatever- work out.
(My own fingers will be crossed in hope and my hands will be clasped in prayer for our brave astronauts.)
My advice is to not watch or listen to the major news outlets. I haven't watched the evening news since Cronkite was on the air and I'm much happier for it. Hell I couldn't even tell you who the current gas bags are.
I believe the space program is needed. Albeit though, the shuttle program is outdated, and I've heard rumblings that they intend to cease the shuttle program once the ISS is completed at the end of the decade, and focus on other areas of space exploration. The space program is beneficial to everyday lives of us mere Earthlings down here on Terra Firma in that space is once place where human science experiments can flourish and advance, particularly protein crystal growth experiments. I am positive this will no doubt continue in the lab aboard the ISS once the shuttle program is discontinued in the future.
I guess I just don't "get it." I know the media outlets each have their own agenda, but I fail to see what can possibly be gained by slamming one of our greatest achievements. We should celebrate the positive about the space program with the understanding that something so complex will never be perfect. I guess my frustration comes from the fact that so many people buy into the info spun by the networks. It kind of reminds me of the Orwell book, "1984"...
IMHO, I think because they have seen so many shuttle missions that went smooth, they are bored, and want something to happen, as disgusting as that is.
I tell ya, I'd prefer if we sent our astronauts up in a ship that wouldn't be too old for military service if it were a citizen.
I'm all for reevaluating the program once the ISS is completed and despite my fondness for the work done here at Marshall, I realize the shuttle program may be winding down.
I've actually used profanity toward my television listening to questions during the MMT briefings from the LA Times Reporter. I'm from California, but am almost ashamed to admit it when that guy opens his mouth and asks some absurd question to which there is no answer.
Touche'. Although I'm told the cut-off age for enlistment is being reconsidered due to recruiting problems.
The MSM has been generally ignorant of the space program since Apollo was cancelled. None of their reporters have any science training at all, it seems. They like to report on the downtrodden and cannot identify with those who are doing excellent things. What else? Oh yeah, they see no future for America.
I must admit that the thought crossed my mind that the EVA to work on the gap filler could be motivated, in part, by all this frenzy about the safety of the return flight, when it wouldn't even have been an issue in the past. I hope I'm way off base on that one.
LSM = Lame stream media? I always love a new acronym to add to the ol' vocabulary...
"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life." (1969)
Personally, I've thought for many years that we might be better off just having single people on spacecraft. No people who have children on them. But, this is America and a person can take whatever risks they choose to. Hell, this whole Representative Republic thing is one hell of a risk itself.
The shuttle is a super complicated system and it's amazing that the damn thing has not had catastrophic problems over and over. It's likely it will break again and people will die. When it does everyone needs to understand that those killed knew the risks. And as Grissom basically said prior to his own death we need to keep going forward. We are America dammit! Lead, follow are get the hell out of the way!
Well said, well said.
Grissom High School is just blocks away from where I'm sitting and we're about to open Columbia High School. Yes, this is a space oriented town I work in - Huntsville, Alabama, home of the Marshall Space Flight Center. And proud of it!
It's like Tom Wolfe said, to the Media the manned space program is nothing by a high-wire act and a deathwatch.
"...LSM = Lame stream media?..."
That it is, my FRiend. It's an oldie but goodie. As far as the gap fillier issue goes, my opinion is that since this is the first time this has been noticed in flight, everyone is a bit more cautious. Especially with this being the first flight since the Columbia disaster. I hope and pray that Steve Robinson doesn't run into any problems. This is a first for us. Repairing a spcecraft in orbit. The Russians did somewhat the same thing on Soyuz TM-9. An insulation blanket came loose and Anatoly Solovyov and Alexander Balandin went EVA and repaired it while docked to Mir. On a side note, the video should be neat. Getting to see the underside of an orbiting shuttle. Could be one of NASA's better moments.
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