[LeArc] Question for the group
Dave Nissen
[email protected]
Fri, 07 Feb 2003 05:25:38 -0600
Interesting way to look at the problem Joe.
You are quite correct, I am not nervous after a serious wreck or for that
matter, had no problem eating some nasty grease filled object after I went
out in the ambulance to get a heart attack victim. Of course I have seen the
light, so to speak, and there is 22 lbs less of me to love since Nov 23rd,
but that is another story.
I must admit that I was somewhat relived after hearing that the Russian
un-manned supply ship made a successful docking with the space station so
that it could be re-supplied. I am a very nervous Nellie when it comes to
heights and flight. The feeling of being in the space station, basically
alone with no ready means to return to Earth is not a feeling that I think
that I could handle. And now that the "taxi" is broken would not help my
personal feeling.
The astronauts, are in my opinion, today's heroes and role models. In my
younger days I looked up to sports stars and movie stars as my "heroes".
Now, thanks to the media, we find that movie stars are not all the type of
people that we would want to invite to Sunday dinner. My interest in
professional sports is about gone with the mega millions that are being
flashed around to cocaine using, gun toting, poorly educated people, who
without sports would be in a bread line somewhere.
I too would hate to see the space program closed. For those of you who think
that it is far to expensive, or for other reasons think that it should be
shut down, then go a day without using cable or satellite TV, international
telephones, some medications, automotive products, and on and on and on. The
benefits far out weigh the costs. Gain for this country has always been
expensive in the cost of production and lives. I watched a show on the
History channel the other day about Charles "Lucky" Lindbergh and his flight
from New York to Paris. I did not count, but several people lost their lives
trying to make the flight in poorly designed and poorly equipped aircraft.
As I see it, the government wastes far more money on items that benefit few
than it will ever spend on space.
My $0.02. Your mileage may vary
73
Dave de W9COP
No trees were destroyed in the sending of this message.
However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Rossmiller" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 9:55 PM
Subject: Re: [LeArc] Question for the group
> See http://www.qsl.net/learc/ for club information.
>
> Membership Dues are due.
>
> Next meeting February 11, 2003.
>
> Please join us on Sunday Evenings for the
> Lamoine Emergency ARC Sunday Evening Net.
> Net time is 8:00 PM local time.
>
>
> A question Dave. After you've been to the scene of a fatal accident, do
you
> feel nervous the next time you get in a car? I don't imagine you do. I'm
> sure the crew aboard the International Space Station are the same. I
would
> think they feel a lot of grief right now over the lost of their friends.
> Nervous, I doubt it. Unlike most of us, they truly know the risk of space
> travel, and accept it.
>
> What bothers me is the reaction from so many that due to the deaths on
> Saturday, we should stop all space flight. You hear that it is too
> expensive. Too dangerous. A waste of taxpayer's money that we get
little,
> if anything from in return.
>
> The space program is not really that expensive. I remember a statistic
from
> back in the 1970s. More money was spent, a quarter at a time, on the
video
> game "Space Invaders" per year than the entire cost of the space program
> during the same time period. A billion dollars sounds like a lot, until
you
> break it down per person. Like Illinois Senator Dirkson once said, "A
> billion dollars here, a billion dollars there, and soon your talking real
> money."
>
> As far as danger. All exploration is dangerous. Traveling to Illinois
was
> very dangerous in 1800. But if people had not taken the risk, we wouldn't
> be living here today.
>
> And as far as not getting any returns, the space program helped create the
> technology in the computer you are using, and the radios in your shack.
> Plus countless other items you use everyday. Oh sure, we would have
> developed them sooner or later. But thanks to the space program, we have
> them now. Outside of war, the space program has pushed technology forward
> faster than anything else. Which would you prefer? (And you may not
> believe it, but I typed that last line before the thought of Iraq even
came
> into my mind.)
>
> And strangely, the computers on your desk are much more powerful than the
> ones in the shuttle. Last I knew, they were still using 386 based
> processors on the shuttle. That was a couple of years ago, so they may be
> updated now. But the computers on the shuttle will still be based on
> technology several years old. Why? Because space is a harsh environment.
> Before NASA will fly anything new, it has to undergo several years of
> testing to be sure it can stand up to the radiation it will be exposed to
in
> space. You can't be too safe, which is what we all found out last
Saturday.
>
>
> January 27, 1967 Apollo One Fire. Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee.
>
> January 28, 1986 Challenger. Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith
> Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, Sharon (Christa)
> McAuliffe.
>
> February 1, 2003 Columbia. Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawia, William
McCool,
> David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon.
>
> All gave their lives so that someday we all might be able to complete the
> journey they began.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dave Nissen" <[email protected]>
> To: "LEARC" <[email protected]>
> Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 8:59 AM
> Subject: [LeArc] Question for the group
>
>
> > See http://www.qsl.net/learc/ for club information.
> >
> > Membership Dues are due.
> >
> > Next meeting February 11, 2003.
> >
> > Please join us on Sunday Evenings for the
> > Lamoine Emergency ARC Sunday Evening Net.
> > Net time is 8:00 PM local time.
> >
> >
> > Greetings..
> >
> > I, along with many others, was watching the news account of the tragic
> incident yesterday. While I watched I had a question pop into my head and
> couldn't find the answer.. I wonder if anyone else would know..
> >
> > There are 3 people that are now in the space station, 2 Americans and 1
> Russian I think. Anyway, I was wondering how are these folks gonna get
back
> to Earth now? NASA has publicly said that it will be "some time" before
the
> space shuttle will fly again. So that an investigation as to the cause of
> the disaster can be made and repairs/improvements can be started and
> completed.
> >
> > If I was one of the people in the space station I would be just a little
> nervous right now.
> >
> > Thoughts -- comments
> >
> > Your mileage may vary
> >
> > 73
> > Dave de W9COP
> > No trees were destroyed in the sending of this message.
> > However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced
> >
> >
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> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > Lamoine Emergency Amateur Radio Club
> >
> > W9SSP - 147.060 (103.5 tone)
> >
> > WB9TEA - 444.300
> >
> > Meetings on the second Tuesday of the month.
> > 7:00 PM at the American Red Cross Building in Macomb.
> >
> > Next meeting will be December 10, 2002.
> >
> > Hope to see you there.
> >
> >
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Lamoine Emergency Amateur Radio Club
>
> W9SSP - 147.060 (103.5 tone)
>
> WB9TEA - 444.300
>
> Meetings on the second Tuesday of the month.
> 7:00 PM at the American Red Cross Building in Macomb.
>
> Next meeting will be December 10, 2002.
>
> Hope to see you there.
>
>
> LeArc mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/learc