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Volunteers Needed for Space Launch
BradNeuberg writes "The Ansari X Prize needs volunteers to help at the Scaled Composites and da Vinci Project's launch attempts in the next few months! I've digitized and created BitTorrent's of an Ansari X Prize video that is pretty cool and can tell you more about what we are doing. Want to be a volunteer? Sign up here. I've also set up a carpool and rideshare list for those who can offer or want a ride down to Mojave, CA to see history made."
I mean, the winning of the X Prize will certainly be a significant event in the privatization of access to space, but the first private flight already took place, which is very significant in itself.
Volunteering for this kind of stuff makes the experience several magnitude more enjoyable. I know it's not the most logical thing, but by participating even just a little bit, you get a much bigger sense of being "part of it".
I speak from experience. For years I'd attend events and snicker at the poor volunteers who had to stand around in the sun and who missed half the show. But then I started doing it myself and I'm hooked. It's ten times better to be part of the show than to watch the show.
. . .anybody who signs up is a sure bet for a Darwin award.
My children are already old enough to breed themselves.
One of the advantages to growing old is the discharge of your social and genetic responsibilities, leaving you in a state where you can do any damned fool thing you want. My early expiration could, in fact, be viewed as a social boon, as I'm not quite old enough yet to begin drawing on age based entitlements.
Your joke is valid though. Once upon a time, Brian Redman got a call from Porsche asking him if he'd like to do some testing on their new car, the 917. Brian says the very first thing that ran through his mind was (my paraphrase), "Wait a minute. Porsche has a stable of the best test drivers in the business. If they're soliciting outside volunteers there's something seriously amiss with the car and they know it."
And the car did, in fact, develop a reputation as a man killer before it was tamed. It went 40 mph faster than any other car, but was aerodynamically unstable. Not a good combo.
Oh yeah, Brian took the ride, of course, and the rest is racing history. He helped tame it and didn't die much.
Not everyone considers the maximum extension of their life as the greatest achievment they can make. We're all going to die someday, like it or not, and I think there is validity in choosing a good day to die.
God rest Christa. You died "prematurely," but you died doing something that gave you a reason to live, which is more than can ever be said about most people.
KFG