Space Cadet

Despite the bad press and shortcomings NASA has come across in the recent past, I still have a lot of faith in the space program and continue to be facinated by the final frontier. It takes superior physical shape, scientific intelligence, and enormous balls to be an astronaut; I applaud these folks and those who came before them and I believe all the risks they take are well worth it. I've been watching the live web tv and the coverage is pretty cool. You get to hear all of the audio between mission control and the shuttle, check out the digital images and path maps, as well as see the live video feed of what's occurring in real time, both inside and outside of the shuttle and at mission control. I watched the live interviews with the astronauts from various news networks tonight and watched them put a huge trash can in the cargo bay as they were attached to the international space station on Friday. I read that due to the lack of shuttle missions lately, there was a 2 1/2 year backlog of trash up there. Good luck and safe wishes to the Discovery crew as they prepare for their return to earth on Monday.