Congrats to Elon Musk and SpaceX (and NASA) for getting US back into space!

[UPDATE 2-7-2025: Memo to Elon and your ignorant far-right buddies (fyi, far-left people are idiots too) - try and take a free moment from jerking each other off and stroking each other's egos and listen - if there's one thing we real Americans are good at, it's killing Nazis...and there's no amount of money that will save your sorry asses for disrespecting our WWII veterans and our freedoms they fought and died for.  Anytime you throw around Nazi signs and slogans, you're basically spitting on the graves of the brave folks in our country, and all countries, who had to fight those brainwashed fools. I suggest you remember that.

With that said, thumbs up on identifying and eliminating government waste and fraud - keep up the great work there.  

Eliminate the shady Military Industrial Complex while you're at it - I'm so sick of their control over our elected decision makers who (after having their pockets lined) then lead us into situations where we ultimately look like two-faced backstabbers, which then leads to more countries being pissed at us - which in turn, leads to more lucrative business for the Military Industrial Complex...cycle continues ad nauseam.  And we, normal everyday real Americans, end up paying the price for it while a group of douchebags, here and around the world, get super rich.  Fucking sick of it.

But anyway, knock off that disgusting Nazi bullshit - NOW!]

____________________________________________________

I gotta say it, Elon Musk inspires the hell out of me (and makes me feel like I'm wasting my life at the same time).

The manned Falcon 9/Dragon launch which took place today - which took many talented people to accomplish for sure - still needed a spark and focal point of inspiration to get started and see the journey through - and there's no other greater spark in the world right now than Elon Musk. Period.  Statues will be erected of this guy when all is said and done.  Jeff Bezos might be "richer", but Elon Musk is more "valuable" (his Paypal creation isn't my kind of thing, but what an amazing springboard that led to his current companies - the innovations coming from Tesla; Boring/Hyperloop; and SpaceX are just amazing...we all can dream - that's easy; but he makes them come true - that's hard).

Curiosity begins (and continues) on Mars!

Yes!  Success!  The Mars Curiosity rover is on the ground!  A few black and white pics have already come back and I can't wait for all the pics and info. sure to come.  Congrats to all the incredibly bright men and women involved with this project - y'all are amazing!

Man, that was exciting!

Ok - now - let's continue the Mars exploration and (someday) colonization of the red planet.  But also - let's get a big-ass drill sent to Jupiter's moon, Europa, so we can peer underneath its vast sheets of ice and see what kind of ocean is lurking beneath.

Next stop - Mars!

The Mars Curiosity rover began it's journey to Mars this morning and I couldn't be happier...well, actually, I guess if it's propulsion system instead utilized a combination of light/solar sail and plasma rockets to cut it's 8 1/2 month journey to 8 1/2 weeks or less, I'd be absolutely ecstatic.  Some day...some day.

Here's hoping that it lands safely and begins the next phase of Mars discovery - thus paving the way for man's next foothold in the solar system (of course, there's that little hurdle of protecting astronauts from extreme radiation - but - we'll get there).

Be sure to check in on the official Mars Curiosity Twitter feed (which I've also added to the bottom of my blog).

As an aside, it's my humble/un-researched opinion that if we made colonization of Mars the top goal of our country, we could easily cut unemployment in half in the near-term; and eliminate it, not just for our country but for all countries on Earth, in the long-term.  Not to mention the technologies surely created for such a goal could also be used to clean up our own planet and make it a better place to live.  But - *sarcasm alert* why attempt such a revolutionary evolution for our species when it's soooo much easier to spend our time destroying things, stabbing each other in the back for material possessions, and policing others' morality here on our tiny blue marble.  *Here's where I kick the dirt and do my best grumpy old man "Bah-humbug!" spat*

Keep looking up.