Bob CollinsA presidential candidate stood in Alabama yesterday and promised that “America has a destiny in space.”
It played well — there are a lot of unemployed space industry workers in Alabama — but the reality is human spaceflight isn’t just for Americans anymore and there are other countries more passionate about science and space than the U.S. Maybe they know something we don’t. Or maybe we know something they don’t. We’ll find out soon enough.
That said, it’s undeniable that the U.S. space program as it was is what inspired that passion.
Raul Oaida of Romania is but one example. He created a LEGO tribute to the recently-retired space shuttle program to prove that “this machine can still fly, albeit in toy form.”
He’s just posted a video from his launch (from central Germany) of Lego Space Shuttle model 3367, which climbed over 21 miles.
He wrote on his blog this week that he flew his ship in Germany because getting permission from air traffic controllers in Romania was impossible.
Not everyone shares the passion from which great scientific leaps are born.
(h/t: Steve Nelson)
