Editing 1456: On the Moon
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | The phrase "If we can land a man on the Moon, why can't we <blank>" is commonly used to question a perceived shortcoming of government | + | The phrase "If we can land a man on the Moon, why can't we <blank>" is commonly used to question a perceived shortcoming of some company, government or humanity in general. The premise is that "we" (whether referring generally to humanity, or specifically to the United States) have been able to achieve the extraordinary feat of {{w|Apollo program|landing men on the Moon}} and bringing them back to Earth safely; thus our inability to achieve some lesser goal is questionable and/or ironic. |
− | Here, Megan cuts Cueball's argument's short by implicitly reminding him that humanity has not put another human on the Moon since the end of the Apollo program in December 1972 (nearly 42 years at the time this comic was published). New manned programs to return to the Moon, such as the {{w|Constellation Program}}, have been repeatedly cancelled. The {{w|Orion (spacecraft)|Orion spacecraft}}, which will be capable of carrying humans beyond {{w|low Earth orbit}} for the first time in over 40 years, executed its first test flight on the day after this comic was published | + | Here, Megan cuts Cueball's argument's short by implicitly reminding him that humanity has not put another human on the Moon since the end of the Apollo program in December 1972 (nearly 42 years at the time this comic was published). New manned programs to return to the Moon, such as the {{w|Constellation Program}}, have been repeatedly cancelled. The {{w|Orion (spacecraft)|Orion spacecraft}}, which will be capable of carrying humans beyond {{w|low Earth orbit}} for the first time in over 40 years, executed its first test flight on the day after this comic was published, but NASA and the U.S. government still lack a coherent vision for manned spaceflight to the Moon or any other destination beyond low Earth orbit. |
− | The title text is a retelling of | + | The title text is a retelling of the famous inspirational [http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/xzw1gaeeTES6khED14P1Iw.aspx Kennedy address to the US Congress in May 1961], which set into motion the Apollo program, except that this time, the speaker is talking about putting a man on planet Venus. The aide presumably explains to the president that it is unlikely that anybody could land on Venus longer than a few seconds and come back alive. (The environment on Venus is extremely hostile with high pressure, high temperature, strong winds, sulfuric acid rains and lakes, etc.) As a result, the president backtracks from the goal of bringing the astronauts home again. Unmanned hardened pre-cooled robotic probes either got crushed or fried before landing, or survived only [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera a couple of hours at most]. |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | + | :Cueball: If we could land a man on the Moon, why can't we - | |
− | :Cueball: If we could land a man on the Moon, why can't we- | ||
:Megan: -land a man on the Moon? | :Megan: -land a man on the Moon? | ||
:Cueball: ...ok, fair. But we're working on it, OK? | :Cueball: ...ok, fair. But we're working on it, OK? | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
− | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | + | |
− | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan | + | [[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]] |
− | + | [[Category: Comics featuring Megan]] |