Space, the crowded frontier

Whether you are aware of it or not, the shuttle just took off for the International Space Station (ISS)(not to be mistaken for In School Suspension, a concept TAE narrowly avoided on many occasions). This marks the 8th to last mission ever for the shuttle fleet, next year they're retiring, and NASA appears to be planning to switch back to rockets and away from rocketplanethings.

But here's an interesting tidbit: This is the first time in this history of the human species that 13 people were in space at the same time. The reason this is possible is that the last couple space station trips installed new equipment that allowed for an expanded space station crew of 6. So if you combine the six at the ISS with the seven aboard the shuttle...well, you can do the math.

But we all should stop and think about the momentousness of this: the most people ever are in space at one time. As a thought experiment, try to list 13 of your relatives. Or 13 of your close friends. Chances are, it takes a minute. 13 is a lot of people.

Now, I think it is really, really neat that we have all these people up in space, and that we've developed the ability to sustain life outside our atmosphere, to a certain extent. But as I always do, I want to remind the human race that every 2 seconds a person starves to death. The cost of the ISS is estimated around 50 BILLION DOLLARS. By the time I am done writing this post, 300 people are dead from starvation. But look up in the night sky, kids! You might see what looks like a quickly moving star! It's the International Space Station! Where they spent $100 million dollars on a toilet!


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