With zero apologies to Led Zeppelin, who pretty much ripped off every damned song they ever played from some old blues musician or another. Shit, the other day I read where even the guitar from Stairway was stolen. And to think how many hours I wasted on them in high school...quite literally.
What? It was the 70s. Get off me.
Anyway, this is about solar sail technology which I think is awesome in a retro kind of way. Given the fact that our planet is about 70% ocean and a lot of it was explored with sailing ships. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to just sail off over the horizon not knowing where you're going or what you'll find or how you'll kill the people who already live there so you can steal their gold.
So, here we are...starting to explore space and what are we using? Sailing ships.
I think that fucking rocks because it reminds us that for all our technological advancement there is still a whole hell of a lot we don't know. We want to go someplace over the horizon so we're falling back on the tried and true to get us started.
No doubt the technology will advance someday and sails in space will become playthings or historical curiosities, like the boats with sails that most of us know, but that's where we are right now, today. Hell, we ain't even there yet. We're still trying to figure out if hanging up a big ass piece of something that can catch the (solar) wind will even work.
We're gonna need to get off this planet someday so why not? We sure as hell ain't gonna row there.
Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get back to wonderin' if that pic OB posted is really his girlfriend. She's hot enough, for damn sure...and the kitchen is small enough...but could a place known as The Weasel Den really be that tidy?
spongebobcrackwhore
