Space Shuttle Atlantis Lifts Off—Yawn!

Gadabout was informed this morning that NASA launched Space Shuttle Atlantis yesterday evening with a full payload and a 7 man crew to rendezvous with the International Space Station. It was the first launch of a Space Shuttle this year, and the event was marked with, well, with just about nothing. I learned of the launch a few minutes ago while looking through Yahoo news online after my routine morning trip to Starbucks to sip coffee and read the morning paper. Nope, nothing in the Virginia Pilot (our local rag) was mentioned about the launch. I looked through yesterday’s paper to see if the scheduled launch was mentioned—negative, Houston. The morning paper did mention Michael Vick’s dog fighting woes with the Feds, Paris Hilton, trash on Mount Fuji, passport restrictions, global warming and a nifty hand written note by A. Lincoln.

Now, in all fairness to the media, I never turned on the television yesterday evening, so I may have missed something there, but I doubt it. You see, we are only informed about NASA’s shortcomings. Shortcomings like when a female astronaut goes bonkers over a failed love affair, when a rocket blows up or when the administrator challenges global warming theories. 7 U.S. Astronauts are orbiting the earth at this very moment, preparing to dock with the International Space Station, and the country yawns. Gadabout doesn’t yawn because I am keenly aware of the sacrifices, extreme level of training required and risks that our astronauts assume to serve our country. I am proud of all of them and will always afford them my greatest respect for their unselfish service.