From mile marker 248,655

[qwazse]

It’s nice when some writes your SM minute for you:

“From the cabin of Integrity here, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration. We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear. But we most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”
 

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-artemis-ii-crew-eclipses-record-for-farthest-human-spaceflight/

[qwazse]

I also took time last night to stream NASA TV on a hand-held while the boys were wrapping up the meeting. About a  half dozen boys were captivated as the signal came back with video from inside the capsule. There was something for everyone. Some of the boys were space-dorks like myself, others were mechanically inclined, and others were into software (how could they not be, with their advancement being checked electronically?). 

More importantly, all of the scouts understood when I described the capsule as something like a six-man tent. I’m starting to think about a mock-up for our next campout. (Or maybe summer camp?)

[skeptic]

I find it interesting that we are seeing basically an updated version of the first moon program.  And the same lines of interest amazingly reappear with the youth.  HMMM.  Could we, as a society, maybe keep the strongest building blocks and share their evolutionary options as bait for the youth?  While I have concerns about the worst of the video game intrusions on some, I also see what appears to be serious parallels to the huge science charge the first decade of the space race.  No good science is wasted, and often reintroductions of some concepts may lead to unique new concepts and developments.  That after all is what comes from the challenges, some of which may stem from the scary video game concerns.  How many of the current day "normal" things were seen in fiction and earlier science probes?  When was the last time someone made a list of how many now basic tools and concepts came from the Race to the Moon?  Not only Tang.  Think about how much easier outdoor activities are with the developments that reach back to the prep for the moon.  How many new materials are mainstream in tents, packs, navigation, and so on?  Young people are often ignored with their idea, yet once in a while those same youth make amazing things, on their own, like the young woman that developed the way to separate micro plastic from the water.  

 

Edited April 7 by skeptic
basic edit

[jcousino]

Not sure I follow you. If scouting had the same drive to meet the goal the early space program had, it would be successful in its mission. It was not until the space shuttle missions when cost out weighed safety. 

[qwazse]

7 hours ago, skeptic said:

I find it interesting that we are seeing basically an updated version of the first moon program.  …

The bitter truth was that the Cold War wasn’t being won by flexes in space. Technical superiority was not gaining the upper hand over Vietnamese tactics. The West’s only hope was to “out-economic” the Soviets and the Maoists. A moon base was too expensive with no immediate gains, plus deep space was utterly terrifying, and too few US states had an economic benefit that contributed to Saturn V rockets. The shuttle program seemed promising with the thought that one might touch down at an airport near you, and the International Space Station, the massive Galileo Probe and the serviceable Hubble Telescope drew international engagement (i.e., spent other countries’ budgets). Closer to Earth seemed safer, although we would soon learn the folly of that presumption. The Soyuz weren’t glamorous, but even when one didn’t work, our astronauts’ odds of living to complain about it were higher. Plus Kazakhstan turned out to be a pretty cool destination after the Iron Curtain fell.

We needed all that time to build up robotics, autonomous vehicles, electricity generation, and additive manufacturing … and Kevlar! But, we also needed more open risk assessment — a skill that some Japanese auto manufacturers had, but NASA had to develop (wrecking a few probes along the way even after that). And orbital mechanics had to be mastered. Although we’ve gone back to roughly the same aerodynamic profile, the scale of Orion, how it’s assembled, how it flies, and how go/no-go decisions are made eclipses anything any nation has done. It’s a testament to those decades in near earth orbit that the thing even has a toilet (although the plumbing needs more engineering).

There’s a lot the space program can teach our scouts about science, but there are lessons in integrity, dedication, and fellowship that should not be ignored.