#they postponed it as long as they can

[sepdet]

Unfortunately NASA doesn't have the budget for an ISS… it was only possible during a brief window when multiple countries, including Russia and China, were willing to collaborate.

NASA has its chain continually yanked by Congress and presidents changing its goals and missions every 4-8 years. That'a why it's sunk so much into planetary probes with short-term missions it can stretch instead of ambitious, long-term missions subject to cancellation.  Once a probe's left Earth, it seems wasteful not to use it.

And it's not just Congress. News media, regular people, even Tumblr posts are always asking — why space? when there's so many problems that need addressing right here on Earth.

People don't know that space research has yielded

a heck of a lot of medical imaging and remote tech from programmable pacemakers to modern breast biopsy digital imaging to heart pumps to fetus monitors

materials and tech from modern firefighters' clothing to space blankets to water purification technology to rechargeable hearing aids to vacuum sealed food to autonomous drone navigation

TONS of educational opportunities and science inspo, both thanks to astronauts spending countless hours talking to classrooms or recording demos/experiments, sometimes suggested by students, and thanks to contests letting schools send mini-experiments into space

prep for humans working off Earth on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids, which should become important for mining (we'd much rather the materials in our phones and gadgets be mined from lifeless rocks than the Earth)

Monitoring and documenting major historical events from 9/11 to volcanic eruptions, typhoons and tsunamis from space

Gathering millions of hours of footage of auroras and clouds/thunderatorms which can be used to study space weather and unusual, hard-to-monitor phenomena like sprites

And much more. This is just stuff I know as a NON scientist, because my grandmother and dad were a planetarium director and rocket scientist.

TL;DR: Space matters. But it's not enough for us to say, "Isn't it a shame a thirty year old space station is due to deorbit, and right now there's no plan to replace it." We have to educate lots of people about WHY it matters. We have to convince people it's still worth the money.

It's not enough to lament an era's passing, as I did in 1975 when I upset my dad by complaining I'd been "born after the space age" (ie the Moon missions). How do we fight for its future?

We have to lobby not just the capricious US government, but the EU, Japan, and Canada (who were ISS partners last time), the UK once it pulls its thumb out of its ass, New Zealand and Australia, INDIA whose space program has really taken off, and... hey, let's not forget Africa and South America this time, OK? They've sent up some astronauts, but I doubt they had much input on the current ISS.

The ISS was never going to last forever, any more than my beloved space shuttles which constructed it. (It was originally planned to come down in 2025, I think?) The next one could be even better by being MORE international. Then it wouldn't be dependent on western companies like Elon Musk's. he whose damned Starlink satellites are wrecking astronomy by painting light streaks on long exposures from every kind of telescope from backyard Dobsonians to the Hubble.

There are powerful corporations who want the era of publicly-funded, independent science and journalism to die. We have to push back loud, hard, and en masse to overcome their lobbying, and make politicians hear us.

I feel like nobody on Tumblr knows that the international space station is being discontinued.

Did you know that? In less than a decade it will be gone

CNN Link from above screenshot

More detailed article by Space.com

[yuseirra]

a family bigger than 4! part 34 (I listened to Dun Dun Dance while drawing this one, it's such a bright and cheerful song! but I listened to the male cover mostly.)

it's still winter here but, it's spring~ and that calls for something:

that whole idea of a wedding is still there! and the dress is from part 7.

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / side story 1 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7 / part 8 / part 9 / side story 2-1 / 2-2 / 2-3 / 2-4 / part 10 / part 11 / part 12 / part 13 / part 14 / part 15 / part 16 / part 17 / part 18 / part 19 / part 20 / part 21 / part 22 / part 23 / part 24 / part 25 / part 26 / part 27 / part 28 / part 29 / part 30 / part 31 / part 32 / part 33

[idk-bruh-20]

Irondad fic ideas #144

Peter Parker sounds just like Spider-Man. This is something that the students of Midtown find hilarious

Soon, Peter's getting comments in the halls like, "Hey are you that kid who sounds like Spider-Man?" "Uhhh I mean -" "Holy shit it's truuue" and, "Hey Parker, say, 'Hiya Mister Criminal'' "(sigh) Hiya Mister criminal-"

It becomes a daily bit on the school news: they put Peter in the cheapest, most ridiculous Spider-Man mask imaginable and get him to say wild stuff, whatever Midtown students can think of. Like that bit at the end of Honest Trailers.

(Peter may or may not go slightly viral saying some Stuff about the Rogue Avengers in his "Spider-Man voice." Tony may or may not nearly piss himself laughing about it when he finds out.

Spider-Man himself has yet to comment.)

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

(so many of my favourites actually don't fit in the poll options ffs 😭)

[rawliverandgoronspice]

can I just say, I genuinely love working with stories that have a set destination the audience is aware of (and partially why I love tragedies so much), because knowledge does so much inherent work for tension and stakes. You know shit is gonna hit the fan eventually. But when? How? Tune in to find more. :)))

[revindicatedbyhistory]

even if we like it or not assad´s syria was one of the few countries giving direct aid to the palestinian resistance. im worried about palestine now

[holykhepri]

For HABI THE FUEL : - How good are you at driving ?

"Others call it reckless, but hey— driving is all about the fun!" (you will probably get car sick if she's behind the wheel.)

[stormwifewrites]

sometimes I stare into the abyss and think, my god, what do I do when I'm done playing Veilguard again

[sskk-manifesto]

--

[evicrystal7]

Guess what's back for the continuation? Me drawing the remaining Reborn prompts :D

Day 24 - Conflict

More like Inner Conflict with many issues. Give her a break please please :(

Day 25 - Victory Road

That moment when you meet that bird 🐦tm

Day 26 - New World

Sealed within the abyss with only the stars being your companions while being a lone star herself

[sekaithemystic]

2072 - Arasaka Family Compound

The daughter of the Emperor and her Hellhound. What would it take to break them apart?

[rivilu]

Stupid little crossover au that's been living in my head rent-free

shoving your pf/dnd characters in a double rook situation is very silly, recommend

[somuchstrdst]

I just have 3 more final papers to hand in and theni'm free from this semester 💀

[idk-bruh-20]

Irondad fic ideas #146

Karen is missing someone.

She's an AI, so she's not exactly supposed to have "feelings" the way a human would, but... what other way is there to explain it? Someone is supposed to be in her life, and they are not. She wants them back.

The problem is, she can't find any record of why she feels this way. There are no important people in her database who are currently missing, no gaps in her code that she can find. The only curiosity is the fact that she seems to no longer be helping Spider-Man.

That used to be her prime objective. Her entire reason for being. Maybe he's the one she's missing? She can't find any data to indicate that they were close, but perhaps that is a curiosity too. Surely, if Spider-Man wore a mask with her programming for all that time, she would know who he was, would have some record of their conversations.

With FRIDAY's (and Tony's! let my guy live!) help, Karen is untethered from the Spider-Man suit. She goes searching through every piece of tech she has access to for her missing friend.

When she finds him, she'll figure out what's wrong. And she'll help him fix it. It's what she was designed to do.

[coffeeworldsasaki]

Okay if my girlfriend is able to help me out I'll try getting over my ocd issue with the Bad Number

[lesenbyan]

It is fun and interesting to read a book where the MC's (unknown until now) dissociation is the key suspense factor as someone who has known what dissociation was, if not the name, since elementary school. A lot of "huh. I suppose that would be concerning if you didn't like. Already know you do it and expect it."