Spaceballs

[uk 75]

While visiting the Fireball XL5 thread on Facebook I have the BBC Radio news trying to explain what is happening to get two astronauts down from the International Space Station.
Flipping to an old episode of Stargate SG1 I listen to the USAF heroes explaining to a bemusec Extra Terrestrial ally that the Earth does not have spaceships able to defend against an oncoming alien force but it does have Shuttles!
Not any more we don't.
In the sixty years since my younger self gawped at Steve Zodiac piloting his craft into space after a dramatic sled launch Space has become, as so much else, boring and even embarassing. While our competition (mods might object to opponents) land on the back of the Moon the white hats cannot even get to orbit and back. Where is Jack O'Neill when you need him?

 

[Justo Miranda]

Hi

 

[Justo Miranda]

While visiting the Fireball XL5 thread on Facebook I have the BBC Radio news trying to explain what is happening to get two astronauts down from the International Space Station.
Flipping to an old episode of Stargate SG1 I listen to the USAF heroes explaining to a bemusec Extra Terrestrial ally that the Earth does not have spaceships able to defend against an oncoming alien force but it does have Shuttles!
Not any more we don't.
In the sixty years since my younger self gawped at Steve Zodiac piloting his craft into space after a dramatic sled launch Space has become, as so much else, boring and even embarassing. While our competition (mods might object to opponents) land on the back of the Moon the white hats cannot even get to orbit and back. Where is Jack O'Neill when you need him?

At the time of Fireball XL5, popular science publications for young people described Venus as a swamp full of dinosaurs and Mars as a dying planet that was home to a civilization technologically more advanced than our own. The science of that time believed that the formation of planets in other stars was a very unusual event that required two stars to almost collapse as they passed close to each other generating the planetary cloud.

Nuclear energy would generate endless wealth replacing oil and it was believed that it would only be a matter of time, propulsion power and speed to colonize all the worlds of the solar system... with atomic engines.

We now know that Venus is hell, Mars lacks a magnetic field that makes colonization unfeasible, and the Moon lacks heavy metals on the surface.

There is no good reason to spend huge sums on a dangerous trip to Mars without having anti-radiation technology, without having developed a rotating artificial gravity technology and what is most shameful: using the same engines as the V-2 rockets.

In return we now know that extrasolar planets are almost infinite, but there is not a single physicist in the world who dares to take on Einstein's theories... for fear of the ostracism of the single established thought.

For these reasons, the producers of Science Fiction series have abandoned spaceships in exchange for stargates... much cheaper and medieval universes, much more to the liking of environmental activists.

 

[Grey Havoc]

From two years ago:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1540265725016817664

View: https://twitter.com/TheSpaceshipper/status/1540265725016817664


In a strange way, the phrase "We brake for Nobody", summed up the can-do attitude of the 1980s nicely. Quite different from the 2020s, methinks.

 

[Grey Havoc]

These days, things like this are seen as 'progress'; Via Slashdot:

'Anything that can be built can be taken down': The largest dam removal in US history is complete – what happens next?

The Klamath River is free of four huge dams for the first time in generations. But for the Yurok tribe, the river's restoration is only just beginning – starting with 18 billion seeds.

www.bbc.com

Gah.

 

[BlackBat242]

Where is Jack O'Neill when you need him?

In retirement, letting his buddy Elon surpass the US government in space development.

 

[Justo Miranda]

In retirement, letting his buddy Elon surpass the US government in space development.

He is still at JPF 351K, his group has not been able to return because of a software failure.

Entropic cascade failure

Entropic cascade failure is a side effect that can occur when traveling to an alternate reality. It is caused by the increased entropy created by multiple versions of the same person in one reality. The effects, which only affect the non-native versions, continue to get worse over time...

stargate.fandom.com

 

[Archibald]

'Oh... Spaceballs!' - Monsters vs Aliens

Gallaxhar: [after his plot to invade Earth has been completely foiled] Oh... Spaceballs!

clip.cafe