The STS-131 crew from the left: Mission Specialists Clayton Anderson, Naoko Yamazaki, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Rick Mastracchio, Pilot James P. Dutton, Jr., and Commander Alan Poindexter. Image credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Everything looks good for Monday’s shuttle launch.  Even the weather is looking favorable with just a 20 percent chance the weather will cause a delay.

Launch time is scheduled for 6:21 am EDT Monday morning.  I will try and record it and put it up for those not able to see it for whatever reason.  Heh, somebody will have it even if I flub it up.

This morning a Soyuz TMA-18 rocket launched NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Komienko on their way to the International Space Station.  You know of course, the Russians will pretty much be the only ticket to the ISS pretty soon.

No matter, our guys will be too busy fooling around with cars to amount to much spacewise in what some former NASA astronauts are calling “the dismantling of NASA”.  I wonder if the NASA people ever dreamed they would go from “rocket scientists” to glorified grease monkeys when they worked so hard in school to be able to have a chance at working at the prestigious agency.  I bet not.

I am not dissing automotive people either so no emails to that effect thank you.  I have many friends in the automotive industry and I have NO talent for such work myself.  But just the same, you have to admit it’s rather far afield from what these  NASA people worked so hard to be able to do.  I am also concerned with the message being sent to school-aged young adults; kind of like: meh, like science? Don’t bother.