“Life is not a matter of having a good hand of cards, but of playing that hand well”

“Chicks dig scars”

“Knowledge without perspective is nothing”

“You are never too old to cut people out of your life”

“If you don’t go after what you want, you will never have it. If you never ask, the answer is always “no” ”

“Standing alone is better than standing with people who undervalue you”

“He who fights may lose, He who chooses not to fight has already lost”

“If you are not prepared to use force to defend yourself or others, then you must accept what is given”

“No one is “Too Busy”…it is simply a matter of priorities”

Is NASA that desperate to find something good to say about the  Artemis II mission that they have to inflate the accomplishments? Are they that desperate to demonstrate that they have actually accomplished something?

Apollo 8 travelled 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers), Artemis II travelled 252,757 miles (406,773 kilometers) ….4102 miles farther…or about 1.6% farther than Apollo 8.

Artemis II made ONE orbit around the moon, Apollo 8 made 8 orbits (real orbits of the mooon)

And Apollo 8 did it 58 years ago…..Before advanced composites, before supercomputers….Hell, you have a computer in your cell phone that is more powerful than all the computers used for the Apollo missions. Combined

But NASA still trumpets a “Record Breaking” mission that is all of 4102 miles farther than what was accomplished (for the FIRST TIME) nearly 60 years ago as if it were a groundbreaking feat. I find it sad that they need to trumpet this as some incredible feat.

Make no mistake, it is an accomplishment. Putting humans into space and keeping them alive while flying past the moon is a wonderful feat and bringing them back alive  But it isn’t all that much more than what was accomplished nearly three generations ago with lesser technology by better men (and women) on the team who didn’t need a participation trophy.

ETA: jerseyGirl has an excellent comment

With the voices in your head:

and also Happy First Contact Day

And, since I was busy and forget, a few days late Happy Passover .

Did you notice how quickly the long lines at airport TSA checkpoints suddenly disappeared after the TSA staff got a paycheck?

Now tell me with a straight face that this was not a Job Action. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you get your shit together first.

Each and every one of those TSA “Agents”  that called off needs to be fired. They broke the law and the conditions of their employment.

No seriously, I’m average….Sure I am.

You are too, probably,,,

Artemis II is on the way to the moon.

I am actually surprised the systems worked well enough for NASA to decide to do the TLI burn.

I wish them luck and a good and successful mission and hope they return home safely.

If the only toilet for the next 9 days is a bag and a funnel.

Toilet breaks on Orion spacecraft hours into flight

Lets hope that the rest of engineering is more robust….

7:3 that Artemis is cancelled by NASA today as they decide to redo a “go around the Moon” flight first performed in 1968 by the crew of Apollo 8. or that it fails and is cancelled before they depart for the lunar flyby.

I really don’t think I’d have the intestinal fortitude to fly on a rocket or spacecraft as designed and launched by the people at NASA today. So far they have ONE successful (unmanned) flight, which had serious heat shield issues, and now are going to swing around the moon with zero intermediate steps to test things like life support  or other systems, much less maneuverability in space……Testing everything at once on one flight and hoping for the best, I guess.

Hats off to the brave folks who are willing to try it though.

In space no one can hear you scream.

I find it apropos that they are launching on April Fool’s day.

Remember, these are the same type of bureaucrat that chose to ignore the SRB manufacturer’s advice and launch Space Shuttle Challenger back in 1986, leading to disaster

We’ve spent a lot of money at NASA and not gotten much  except failure in the past 20 years or so.

ETA: I was, apparently, wrong about the launch. That part went off without any apparent hitches other than a few stoppages in the prelaunch checklist.

Also: Katy Perry could not be reached for comment.

Several  excellent contributions from viewers from last week too!

“ “Hate Speech” is still free speech”

“If you focus on the bad in your life you miss out on all of the good” (Joe)

“The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down” (OldNFO)

“When somebody prefaces their remarks with “I don’t mean to be a dick, but…” be assured that they fully intend to be a “dick” and they want to also be seen as righteous while they are one” (Eaton Rapids Joe)

“Remember: anything the government gives someone, they took from someone else first”

“Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear the path for better”

“The people who matter will not leave you for having boundaries”

“Relationships and friendships end. How you behave afterwards demonstrates your character”