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Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches (at last)
mumkin writes: "Hey, STS-108 has finally launched! In addition to bringing a new crew to the International Space Station and performing an EVA, Endeavour will be releasing Starshine 2, another orbiting disco-ball for ground-based observers to track."
Why do we bother sending people to space when there are so many problems on earth?... Terrorist attacks against America, terrorist attacks against Israel, unemployment, economy problems, homelessness, bad education, health care problems, etc...
Maybe to remind the world that there is a lot more to our existance than out (mostly) petty quarrels. Maybe to inspire a new generation to strive for a better education. Mabey to conduct zero-g research that will indirectly lead to inexpensive soulutions to many health issues. There have been countless spinoffs from the space program and there will be many more. I think it is a great way to spend that small fraction of our budget.
i took an astronomy class last year and one of the requirements was to watch the shuttle pass over blacksburg. well the time we decided to watch was special indeed. first the ISS passed overhead and then the shuttle (i forget which one) passed over head on its way to rendevous with the ISS. it was around the time when the ISS was being fitted with new and bigger solar panels.
the whole thing was very cool, and extremly fast. the two objects looked like very bright stars, about the magnitude of venus, and crossed the whole sky in under 90 seconds. it gave a great feeling of the speed that those guys were zipping around earth at.
if you get a chance check it out, you won't regret it.
Master Using It, and You can have THIS!!