Now Playing: stirring Thunderbirds type music
Good to see the Ares 1-X rolled out of the VAB today. I just hope there's some money in the pot to actually do something with it. I'm all for the Ares program, even if in many ways it looks like a throwback to the Apollo era (and in terms of some of the hardware, that's pretty much what it is). Granted, it would have been nice if the shuttle concept could have been evolved, rather than (as it seems to me) largely discarded. Perhaps we'll come back to reusable spaceplanes later in the century. Not for the first time, though, I can't help wondering where we'd be if Gerry Anderson was in charge of all human spaceflight operations on Earth. For a start, I don't think Gerry would have been satisfied with merely rolling out the Ares 1-X. No, Gerry would go for something much more impressive, like having - for no readily apparent reason - the entire VAB move backwards instead. And - although the Ares 1-X won't be carrying people - if it did, there'd be some insanely complex procedure for putting the crew inside it, probably involving slides and underground tunnels. And then, of course, the Hood would get aboard it with intentions of sabotage. We can't have everything, though.
ps - many thanks for the words of support received through email; it's much appreciated.
