Posted 6/14/2007 05:46:00 PM by Douglas

It's been a hell of a ride.

There are bad ideas, and then there are true historic stinkers. Put the International Space Station in that second category.

Today, the most underachieving machine NASA ever dreamed up got into trouble again, when computers that control the station’s oxygen, water supply and orientation failed. With the three-man station crew just joined by the seven visiting astronauts of the space shuttle Atlantis, the specter of Apollo 13 on a grand scale — with 10 astronauts in danger this time instead of merely three — immediately arose. The good news is, the shuttle and station astronauts are in nowhere near the danger the 1970 lunar crew was; in fact, they're not in much danger at all. The bad news is, the station has once again proven itself unworthy of all of the time, money and attention that has been lavished on it over the last two decades.

Well, that may be the case, but I can't think of a way to end this sentence expect that it's a hell of a ride, and it's still a lot cooler than seeing your name on a plaque on a methadone clinic in Detroit, as long as we're talking about wasting federal money.