If you have not seen the Tim Burton version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then I highly recommend you go check it out. If possible, see it in IMAX, just because. The best part: the new Oompa Loompa songs.

I am employee of the month for all of Flight Design and Dynamics!

Dear Bill Frist,

You are one of the scariest Republicans I’ve ever seen. Usually, your logic makes no sense to the extent that it pains me to sit through. If you ever were president, I would be more nervous about this country’s future than I do under George W. Bush. However, thank you incredibly much for reversing you stance on support of stem cells research funding. The added funding and reduced restrictions will greatly advance this field of science, and possibly lead to cures for diseases. I hope that you can convince the president, because I believe he will listen to you.

Shocked but happy,
-Bob

People happy and overwhelmed by the amazing things that NASA (and their contractor family [ahem]) does. Why isn’t it like this all the time? It should be. If there was a greater interest in what the space program does, then we’d be LEAPS ahead of where we are now. We can’t do it on this small of a budget. Space program and space sciences causes innovation, stimulates the economy, helps natural sciences, and aid international relations.

More information:
- Budget Petition
- Graph of NASA’s budget
- Top 10 Reasons to go to the Moon (and for some of the same reasons: Mars)
- Space Politics

Images from the Chicago Tribune.

Something broke off of the External Tank during flight, but did not hit Discovery. Close call. No issues with this that would warrant a rescue mission or repair, as nothing hit Discovery’s heat shield. For those that do not know, it was a chunk of foam breaking off of the tank hit the wing & heat shield of the wing that caused the last space shuttle accident on reentry.

Space Shuttle Discovery just entered orbit. NASA has Returned to Flight.

I was lucky enough to watch this historic event on-site in Johnson Space Center, Houston in the main auditorium, just next door to Mission Control. It was an overwhelmingly emotional launch without any errors. The long preparations have culminated in the safest space shuttle launch to date.

Molly Ivans has an excellent article titled, “Big Time Trouble: America continues to weaken, but why worry?,” that pings a lot of valid points about the recent declination of America. From the article:

“What, me worry?” The U.S. is over $7 trillion in debt (no problem); China buys $1 billion worth of U.S. treasury bills a day (thanks for floating us); Americans love the prices at Wal-Mart (made in China, cute!); the Chinese save 50 percent of their domestic product; the average American has $9,000 on his credit cards; our economy is fueled by a fragile housing bubble; the minimum wage is $5.15 per hour…; taxpayers who earn over $1 million saved $30K under Bush tax cuts; the war in Iraq costs $9 billion a month; by 2040, our kids will be unable to do more than pay the interest on the national debt … ; bankruptcy reform makes it impossible to escape your debts…

Similarly, Bush purposefully deflated the value of the US dollar in his first term, thinking it would strengthen business with our international partners. It didn’t. She also comments on the current “personal moral outrage” fad:

During the past five years, both media and political circles have devoted an enormous amount of attention to social issues and culture wars — rise of the Christian Right, anti-abortion groups, our debates over moral decline and moral relativism, prayer in the schools, school vouchers, displaying the Ten Commandments, sex and violence in entertainment, bias in the news media, gay marriage and all the rest of it. I sometimes think all of it amounts to a bunch of people saying, “The world would be a much better place if everybody else thought exactly the same way I do.” Reminds me of Dr. Henry Higgins in his famous philosophical disquisition, “Why Can’t A Woman Be More Like A Man?” Higgins finally discovers the ultimate problem: “Why can’t a woman be more like ME?”

I got a performance award from my boss today! Certificate + Check = Woot!

Bush supposedly elected “a man who will faithfully apply the constitution,” John Roberts. While I don’t fully trust Bush’s definition of correct application of constitutional rights [see: Patriot Act], there are worse choices he could have made. I’m not happy about an unevenly partisan Supreme Court, but I can see why Bush chose this candidate.

Notice the clever alt tag that appears in the status bar. Nice one, Google.