[15:39] <Cheesehead> Woe is me. I must take my car for emissions testing in a few minutes
[15:39] <h00k> I just watched the space shuttle launch
[15:39] <h00k> mind = blown
[15:39] <h00k> Everytime
[15:40] <Cheesehead> I watched the first five or six, then just happened to watch #25 (oops)
[15:40] <Cheesehead> Talk about good (bad?) timing.
[15:41] <mikeputnam> the scale of the propulsion is hard to fathom
[15:41] <mikeputnam> and not kill anybody
[15:41] <h00k> like...4 miles per second
[15:41] <Cheesehead> 4 mps? Should be more than that...
[15:42] <Cheesehead> I want a Space Elevator...but I don't want to pay for it
[15:50] <Cheesehead> Aw, who am I kidding? I'd help pay for it.
[15:50] <mikeputnam> Perhaps the fiscal onus of space exploration could be tamed by working together globally? #allonthesameteam
[15:51] <Cheesehead> It already is
[15:52] <mikeputnam> so globally Nasa can't apy the bills?
[15:52] <mikeputnam> *pay
[15:53] <Cheesehead> ISS is supported mostly by Russian support vehicles and tankers
[15:55] <mikeputnam> US & Russia <> globally
[15:55] <mikeputnam> or if you prefer !=
[15:57] <Cheesehead> I don't see Zimbabwe or Peru or Switzerland making meaningful contributions. What line must we cross to call it global?
[15:58] <Cheesehead> China and India have -at best- rudimentary capabilities
[15:58] <mikeputnam> i guess that's my question. why not contributions from everybody?
[15:58] <Cheesehead> Europe decided to be a niche player long ago
[15:58] <mikeputnam> money or tech
[15:59] <Cheesehead> Kind of the same boat Ubuntu is in - everybody benefits, but only a few contribute
[16:00]  * Cheesehead is smug about working Ubuntu into the conversation
[16:01] <mikeputnam> well the non-existant global space exploration program needs a paypal button
[16:02] <mikeputnam> or at least a "Get Involved" link
[16:02] <mikeputnam> street team!
[16:03] <mikeputnam> sell ad space on the side of the shuttles
[16:03] <mikeputnam> deface the surface of the moon with McDonalds Golden Arches in exchange for 2 years funding
[16:04] <Cheesehead> Well, the money gets spent on Earth, so I don't see Zimbabwe's interest in sending money to technicians in Florida or Kazakhstan
[16:04] <Cheesehead> And the worlds just doesn't need 100 satellite factories plus 100 rocket fuel factories scattered everywhere
[16:05] <mikeputnam> "Zimbabwe" is a pretty general grouping of a lot of people.
[16:05] <Cheesehead> Okay, Peru, too.
[16:05] <Cheesehead> (Unless Peru provides an equatorial railgun launcher in the Andes...THAT would be cool)
[16:06] <mikeputnam> heh
[16:06] <Cheesehead> (and lower the cost to orbit)
[20:19] <Cheesehead> Hooray! My first e-mail to the Ubuntu Technical Board was accepted. Now to see what they say...
[20:20]  * Cheesehead wonders why he typed all that twice