GLITCHES

     Sometimes exploring means one step forward and two steps back.  It happened during the Age of Discovery time and again.  Look at North America.  The DeSoto, Nervaez, and Ponce de Leon missions all failed and included incredible disasters, such as the extermination of the important Mobilien and Biloxi peoples in the Southeast.  On the Atlantic Coast, the settlements at Roanoke Island, Parris Island, and Cuttyhunk all disappeared in less than two years before Jamestown, with great difficulty, held on.

     In recent weeks, the second stages of rockets launched from the European Space Agency at Kourou, Guyane, and from the Japan Space Agency at Tanegashima in the Kagoshima Prefecture both failed to function properly.  Add to that the failure of the first 3-D printed rocket made by Relativity Space  scheduled to take off from Cape Canaveral.  Perhaps we were a bit spoiled by an incredible run of space successes by many countries in the preceding years.  Nevertheless, the journey will go on.  

     Sci fi has already been sensitive to the double nature of space exploration.  In The Other World by Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, the explorer's earliest efforts only got him as far as Quebec before a serendipitous accident propelled him to the Moon.   Jules Verne, two centuries later, also showed in From  the Earth to the Moon and its sequel that things didn't work out exactly as planned or his Franco-American crew.  During the Golden Age of Science Fiction, Heinlein in his The Green Hills of Earth and Bradbury in The Martian Chronicles each sketched intimate portraits of space exploration that were filled with unexpected hardships and tragedies.  On the big and small screens, Forbidden Planet and Lost in Space confronted voyagers with failures that could have vast planetary consequences.  

     So we have to brush aside the carefree vistas of Tomorrowland that prevailed for a while and accept the reality of a prolonged period that will not always offer success.  With curiosity and a bit of trepidation, we will see what the future has to offer.

 glitches 2 second stages japan, kourou

  3 dprinted rocket fails

 Thanks Forlani Fans!

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ISS Leads the Way

Kudos to all aboard and supporting the International Space Station for the mature and effective way they have dealt with the Soyuz leak and crew support.  No bickering or jingoistic BS to be seen.  Roscosmos sent up the replacement vehicle without a hitch and SpaceX got the new crew up there in flawless manner.  If only we could handle things on Earth in such a grown-up manner.  Keep on flying for all of us down here!