“But who shall dwell in these worlds if they be inhabited? . . .
Are we or they Lords of the World?
And how are all things made for man?”
Kepler (quoted in The Anatomy of Melancholy)
Good Day World!
I almost conceded that I would never see a flying saucer.
Then I saw one!
But here’s the kicker…instead of aliens piloting the flying saucer I saw, it was powered by remote control and NASA scientists were responsible.
It’s called the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator. LDSD for short.
After nearly a week of weather-related delays, NASA has sent up a rocket-powered "flying saucer" to test technologies that could someday help get heavy payloads to Mars.
That’s right. Not only are humans replacing aliens in modern space craft but we’re going to 
Mars – instead of the aliens coming here. Oh, the humanity! What would have Orson Wells thought?
It’s a stunning reverse of the War of the Worlds. Humans invade Mars. Heck, we’re already planning on colonizing Mars but we have to conquer it first.
Seriously folks, I have to tell you I wasn’t too impressed by the video above showing the inaugural launch of the LDSD.
It sucks the drama right out of the long-imagined flying saucer flight watching the LDSD being towed up into the atmosphere by a giant balloon.
At some point the rockets kick in and it takes off on it’s own power, but the moment has been spoiled. The damn thing looks silly!
Okay, okay. I’ll cut the brains at NASA some slack and admit their flying saucer (when it’s not being towed by a balloon) looks like something out of the War of the Worlds.
If you’re into following the progress of the LDSD you’ll find updates on NASA's LDSD blog and the @NASA_Technology Twitter feed.
Time for me to walk on down the road….
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