Night Launch

After one weather-related delay, the space shuttle Discovery is now in orbit, and for the first time, I managed to watch the launch using the official streaming video. I do have to admit I worried about how I would react to that if something "went wrong," but everything seemed to have gone right so far. I've also got to say that, while I couldn't see very much from the onboard transmissions near the end of the main engine burn, the strange glows that were on screen were interesting in themselves.

In other space news, announcements have been made about building the return to the Moon into a long-stay presence. That interested me, as I've looked back at the National Geographic articles anticipating the Apollo program and noted that they always seemed to leave a big gap between one single first landing and an enormous outpost. Other space buffs, of course, are as depressed and cynical about the news as always.