Some of were frustrated, not bored, that we did not do more. Our representatives are more technophobic than the general population, it seems and now other nations have taken the technical lead in some areas.
Brian, you have an uncanny gift for nailing Nixon’s speech patterns and word choice in a way unlike any other president of the broadcast age. I can hear him in my head saying these things just as if he were coming across the airwaves through a vacuum tube television in black-and-white.
Kennedy and Nixon are, of course, the perfect and only choices for the presidential characters for today’s installment but I wonder, Mr. Carroll, if you have any thoughts on which president is all by himself in the Command Module? I have a couple ideas who I’d have up there, but it’s your show here …
Ni*on did not get bored with it as much as he let it die because it was a JFK era thing and he wanted to stop it. And every President since then has had a different idea of what NASA should be and what it should do. Hard to put together any sort of space program when things keep changing on you.
Not sure if I should laugh or cry. The Apollo missions became…ordinary. Within a year of the 1st landing Congress was cutting future missions out of the budget. Even the amazing recovery of Apollo 13 wasn’t enough to keep the interest boosted.
We moved on to Skylab and 4 years after the moon landing, we essentially scrapped our manned program while the shuttle program limped towards disaster.
Politicians and special interest groups hijacked the design process and gave us a launch system that was essentially guaranteed to fail. Both shuttle disasters are directly attributable to the insane decision to go with “reusable” liquid fuel boosters. And when it did fail, the replacement program for the temporary shuttle program was scrapped.
We should have been to Mars and back already. We should have already set up a permanent lunar base. We should have already put up a string of solar collectors for power transmission back to earth. All of this was within our grasp.
Brian — one small nit — JFK’s “We choose to go to the moon…” challenge was issued on September 12, 1962 in a speech at Rice Stadium, Houston. This was a follow-up to his declaration before Congress on May 25, 1961 to “…before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon, and returning him safely to the Earth.”So the “50 years” comment is slightly off. Nonetheless, thank you for a wonderful dialog between these political giants. It is an amazing piece of irony that Kennedy’s challenge was accomplished under his bitter rival’s administration (and even more ironic, the overwhelming media coverage of Apollo 11 at the time helped deflect the ignominy of JFK’s younger brother’s disaster at Chappaquiddick).
NASA: The exact opposite of a well run project which would have good PR, good “sales”, and good products at a good price. I am somewhat encouraged that some NGOs are looking into making a profit in space.
I think one of my favorite things about this installment, and the strip in general, is Mr. Carroll’s brooding, introspective, no-one-appreciates-my-insights Nixon. A bit more nuanced than the (expletive deleted) thug that has been distilled from history.
Masterskrain Premium Member almost 5 years ago
“Living in the past”: I.E. Today’s Republican Party: They think they are living in Germany, Circa 1936 or thereabouts…
superposition almost 5 years ago
Some of were frustrated, not bored, that we did not do more. Our representatives are more technophobic than the general population, it seems and now other nations have taken the technical lead in some areas.
Andrew Sleeth almost 5 years ago
Brian, you have an uncanny gift for nailing Nixon’s speech patterns and word choice in a way unlike any other president of the broadcast age. I can hear him in my head saying these things just as if he were coming across the airwaves through a vacuum tube television in black-and-white.
DonLee2 almost 5 years ago
Kennedy and Nixon are, of course, the perfect and only choices for the presidential characters for today’s installment but I wonder, Mr. Carroll, if you have any thoughts on which president is all by himself in the Command Module? I have a couple ideas who I’d have up there, but it’s your show here …
Radish the wordsmith almost 5 years ago
Trumps’ climate policies guarantee monster “humid heat waves” — with a lethal heat index of 131 F.
Teto85 Premium Member almost 5 years ago
Ni*on did not get bored with it as much as he let it die because it was a JFK era thing and he wanted to stop it. And every President since then has had a different idea of what NASA should be and what it should do. Hard to put together any sort of space program when things keep changing on you.
braindead Premium Member almost 5 years ago
You could make a strong case for the modern era beginning with the assassinations.
Smitty almost 5 years ago
the missing fourth panel would show Nixon cutting Kennedy’s air supply hose and blasting off the moon without him.
Andylit Premium Member almost 5 years ago
Not sure if I should laugh or cry. The Apollo missions became…ordinary. Within a year of the 1st landing Congress was cutting future missions out of the budget. Even the amazing recovery of Apollo 13 wasn’t enough to keep the interest boosted.
We moved on to Skylab and 4 years after the moon landing, we essentially scrapped our manned program while the shuttle program limped towards disaster.
Politicians and special interest groups hijacked the design process and gave us a launch system that was essentially guaranteed to fail. Both shuttle disasters are directly attributable to the insane decision to go with “reusable” liquid fuel boosters. And when it did fail, the replacement program for the temporary shuttle program was scrapped.
We should have been to Mars and back already. We should have already set up a permanent lunar base. We should have already put up a string of solar collectors for power transmission back to earth. All of this was within our grasp.
Fido (aka Felix Rex) Premium Member almost 5 years ago
Brian — one small nit — JFK’s “We choose to go to the moon…” challenge was issued on September 12, 1962 in a speech at Rice Stadium, Houston. This was a follow-up to his declaration before Congress on May 25, 1961 to “…before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon, and returning him safely to the Earth.”So the “50 years” comment is slightly off. Nonetheless, thank you for a wonderful dialog between these political giants. It is an amazing piece of irony that Kennedy’s challenge was accomplished under his bitter rival’s administration (and even more ironic, the overwhelming media coverage of Apollo 11 at the time helped deflect the ignominy of JFK’s younger brother’s disaster at Chappaquiddick).
Concretionist almost 5 years ago
NASA: The exact opposite of a well run project which would have good PR, good “sales”, and good products at a good price. I am somewhat encouraged that some NGOs are looking into making a profit in space.
DonLee2 almost 5 years ago
I think one of my favorite things about this installment, and the strip in general, is Mr. Carroll’s brooding, introspective, no-one-appreciates-my-insights Nixon. A bit more nuanced than the (expletive deleted) thug that has been distilled from history.