Comments on: John Glenn Orbits the Earth–February 20, 1962 http://readingetc.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/john-glenn-orbits-the-earth-february-20-1962/ Conversations about books & occasionally my life Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:03:27 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Jan http://readingetc.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/john-glenn-orbits-the-earth-february-20-1962/#comment-93 Jan Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:17:53 +0000 http://readingetc.wordpress.com/?p=76#comment-93 Yes, I agree manned space endeavors are expensive, but I also think we need to "dream big" sometimes to fire our imagination. You are right--some of the older science fiction doesn't stand up to time so well, but some is still interesting and relevant. Thanks for your interesting comment. Yes, I agree manned space endeavors are expensive, but I also think we need to “dream big” sometimes to fire our imagination.

You are right–some of the older science fiction doesn’t stand up to time so well, but some is still interesting and relevant.

Thanks for your interesting comment.

]]> By: Bilbo http://readingetc.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/john-glenn-orbits-the-earth-february-20-1962/#comment-85 Bilbo Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:00:53 +0000 http://readingetc.wordpress.com/?p=76#comment-85 I really liked your post about John Glenn! Your post reminded me of how common place space flight has become. When John Glenn went into space (or man first walked on the moon) it was big news and was shown live on the three major news channels. Now space flight has become common and you only hear about things (like the space shuttle landing today) on the 24 hour new channels (which need something to fill up the day). On a positive note, we can now see live, color footage of the astronauts on the International Space Station. I also love the IMAX films which show pictures of earth from space (although I realize that in part this is NASA public relations efforts to promote the manned space program and the NASA budget). While I like manned space flight, I am also a fiscal conservative and thinks that we don't need to spend so much on manned space flight (when we have huge budget deficets). In addition, the spending on manned space flights crowds out the great space work being done with unmanned probes (thinks of the two rovers on Mars) or the Hubble space telescope (although we have to be glad that we had manned space flight to repair the snafu with the mirrors on the original Hubble satellite). Finally, it's interesting to read older science fiction books and see how the science has become dated. For example, as a boy, I loved to read "Tom Swift" stories (with cone-shaped rocket ships and fins on the rocket ships)! At the same time, science fiction which is based on human conditions (just set in some future setting, e.g., "Blade Runner" or "Logan's Run") is still valid even decades later. P.S. Happy birthday (although the fact that you were alive when John Glenn when into space indicates that you are of "a certain age"--like me!). I really liked your post about John Glenn! Your post reminded me of how common place space flight has become. When John Glenn went into space (or man first walked on the moon) it was big news and was shown live on the three major news channels. Now space flight has become common and you only hear about things (like the space shuttle landing today) on the 24 hour new channels (which need something to fill up the day). On a positive note, we can now see live, color footage of the astronauts on the International Space Station. I also love the IMAX films which show pictures of earth from space (although I realize that in part this is NASA public relations efforts to promote the manned space program and the NASA budget).

While I like manned space flight, I am also a fiscal conservative and thinks that we don’t need to spend so much on manned space flight (when we have huge budget deficets). In addition, the spending on manned space flights crowds out the great space work being done with unmanned probes (thinks of the two rovers on Mars) or the Hubble space telescope (although we have to be glad that we had manned space flight to repair the snafu with the mirrors on the original Hubble satellite).

Finally, it’s interesting to read older science fiction books and see how the science has become dated. For example, as a boy, I loved to read “Tom Swift” stories (with cone-shaped rocket ships and fins on the rocket ships)! At the same time, science fiction which is based on human conditions (just set in some future setting, e.g., “Blade Runner” or “Logan’s Run”) is still valid even decades later.

P.S. Happy birthday (although the fact that you were alive when John Glenn when into space indicates that you are of “a certain age”–like me!).

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