On Research

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Boy, I know I'm reproducing a good bit of my class notes. Maybe the next order of business should be to get them online, eh?

Sigh.

Star Wars prop to fly in space. Not on a commercial rocket, although goodness knows Lucas could afford that. No, it's going up on the Shuttle.

...look, yes, it's important to capture the public's interest. And "Star Wars" is certainly an American icon. And if this were flying as the personal baggage of an astronaut, I probably wouldn't care. But it smells like a publicity stunt. Which undermines the "no, really, the Shuttle is a serious research platform, we swear" party line.

My suspicion is that, in 100 years, the Space Transportation System will be primarily known as "the vehicle which launched the Hubble Space Telescope."