Nasa

[Krusher]

This is pretty cool...........


CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. -- When NASA's first American Indian astronaut embarks on his long-awaited journey into space, he will fly with eagle feathers, arrowheads, a handful of sacred ground and the blessings of the Chickasaw Nation.

"I've always imagined what it would be like to be able to go out the hatch and to see the Earth in all its glory," John Herrington said. "I think it's going to fill me with an incredible sense of who I am."

His flight aboard space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for liftoff Monday.

Herrington will conduct a series of spacewalks outside the international space station with Spanish-born astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria. Not long after Columbus Day, the two crewmates -- both 44-year-old U.S. Navy pilots -- discussed the significance of their pairing. "It would be like having a German and a Jew go out together" on a spacewalk, Lopez-Alegria said.

Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation in Ada, Okla., said it is wonderful to see two men whose ancestors may have been enemies on the same spaceflight. "It has come full circle," he said.

[whgates3]

possibly cool - for the PC crowd - but worth serveral hundred of million$$$ ?

[K98k]

Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation in Ada, Okla., said it is wonderful to see two men whose ancestors may have been enemies on the same spaceflight. "It has come full circle," he said.

egads, making something out of nothing going from 'may' to 'it has'.  gimme a freakin break

[Animal]

Did they choose those two guys because they were the best for the specific mission, or was the specific mission a public relations one?

[GRUNHERZ]

I can just see the next flight - Jack O'Malley and Vinny Moretti....
 

[whgates3]

kurt tank & michael jackson

[Krusher]

From what I gather, they are both qualified Navy pilots and both were test pilots. That sounds like good credentials to me.

[Thrawn]

I think NASA took most photogenic Amerindian and Spanish guy they could find, pointed them at the Shuttle and said, "Go to town.".  

[whgates3]

Originally posted by Krusher
From what I gather, they are both qualified Navy pilots and both were test pilots. That sounds like good credentials to me.

american indians have, relative to the size of their population, contributed more to the american military than any other group.
making a big thing of the the fact that there are minorities in space is what rubs people the wrong way and makes them suspect that the 'nauts were pick for something other than their qualifications.  
NASA is still a piece of toejam and the shuttle program is still a tremendous waste
i'd like to see them try to land the shuttle on a CV

[Sandman]

Originally posted by whgates3

NASA is still a piece of toejam and the shuttle program is still a tremendous waste
i'd like to see them try to land the shuttle on a CV

This would somehow validate the space program?

[Hortlund]

I think they'd better add a tailhook to the shuttle before they start with the CV landings though.

[-tronski-]

So....when they put the old man on board (for scientific reasons on course) there was nothing.....put two Indians on board and nows there's problems?

 Tronsky

[Hangtime]

they're both gay.

kurt tank invented gay astronauts.

[whgates3]

Originally posted by Sandman_SBM
This would somehow validate the space program?

i think that an orbit to CV landing would be cool enough to for me to consider the manned space program at least somewhat less lame.  putting up two people whose ethnic backgrounds once clashed does very little for me.  i'd go through worse to get a trip on the shuttle...BTW these are both navy guys, so is their shuttle flight going to just be constant king neptune/crossing the line ceremonies? they cross the equator something like every 50 minutes

[Pepe]

Funny how a PC thread becomes one about Knits CV operations in MA  


P.S.: Don't forget not turning CV while landing Space Shuttle