Juvenal, that biting pundit of the Roman Empire, complained of weak leaders distracting the people with “panem et circenses” — bread and circuses. In our day, it’s moon bases and missions to Mars.
Europe is splintering. North Korea has gone full “Dr. Strangelove.” Disaster in Puerto Rico. Massacre in Las Vegas. Crickets chirping on Capitol Hill, where Republican promises go to die. With so much to be done and few plans for doing it, the people need to be distracted. So Vice President Pence was trotted out last week to revive a long-dormant presidential commission and get American astronauts back into space.
Perhaps you thought our astronauts never left space. Haven’t they been space walking, repairing telescopes, performing experiments and making music videos up there for years? Turns out those missions take place in “low Earth orbit,” less than 350 miles from home. Millions of kids have ventured farther to attend college than our astronauts have traveled from Earth these past 45 years.
From Blue Origin owner Bezos's WaPo. Huuuhhh? Wassup wit dat? To read more, click here.