Today might be a good day to remember the courage it takes to board a spacecraft... any spacecraft.
If you've never read Bill Whittle's eulogy for the Columbia astronauts, read Courage. If you have read it, do so again.
It may just be the single finest piece of writing ever published on the web.
The impact portion of NASA's Deep Impact cometary probe mission appears to be a complete success:
"See what free men can do!" — Burt Rutan
Lots more at Speed of Thought.
Sending a mission to examine — and punch a hole through — a comet: pretty dang cool.
Naming it after the chick-flick version of the Bruce Willis vehicle Armageddon: not quite so cool.
The real Sky Captains:
Bad science doesn't stand a chance when it meets a guy named "Beaker."
I'm just old enough to remember it well. 35 years ago today, the pinnacle of scientific achievement was reached.
We haven't been back to the Moon since 1972. It's long past time we go again — to stay.
Congratulations to the folks at Scaled Composites and all involved with today's successful flight of a man into space.
Wretchard of Belmont Club:
The stars were never made for those who refuse to look up; nor are they vouchsafed to those enslaved by ancient hatreds.Perhaps that is why Americans are leading the way into space. This is what free men can do.
Glenn Reynolds asks:
SO DOES ANYBODY HAVE EXPERIENCE with this wireless printer from HP? I'd like to set up wireless printing, but from what I've heard it's not really ready for primetime, and the reviews on this thing's Amazon page are, um, mixed.Having spent the bulk of the last 4 years working on wireless networking, maybe I can provide something like an answer.What I'd like is a printer that will simply print from any wi-fi computer in range without any networking setup at all. I don't think that such a beast exists. Am I wrong?
With regard to computers:
Interfaces are ok for newcomers, but people who actually know what they're doing use a magnetised needle and a steady hand.Mike MacCana, on the linux-elitists mailing list
The Martian missile launchers must have been on the fritz tonight:
NASA Rover Lands on Mars, Signals Earth
I just finished watching the NASA/JPL press conference a little while ago. The mood of exuberance was palpable.
Good job so far, lads.
Well, this is a relief:
Edinburgh bans dead skinless child show from festivalWhether the dead skinless adults will be displayed, or not, remains to be seen.
Imperial Department of Hegemony By Force
