Science

All I know about science is what I read in the newspaper, and you know what I think of the AP. Today, AP told me the space station is 220 miles high. Traveling at the speed of the escape velocity, we could be there in about 31 seconds. Well, I don't believe AP told me that happened. They did tell me, the other day, that NASA has developed a fuel which can propel the shuttle 3,000 MPH. That means we could get to the space station in about 4.4 minutes. Do you remember that happening? (On land, I can drive 220 miles in about four hours, and, of course, with no obstructions and at a steady 75 MPH, I could do it in about three.)

The NASA scriptwriters had a short break after the Mars scenario, because now they have concocted a charming space station story. The star is Heidemarie Stephanyshyn-Piper, a creative character name for the fiction. She dropped her tool bag, silly girl, and it floated off into space. She and her fellow spacewalker, Stephen Bowen (a boring name) earlier had allegedly watched a screw float by, and Heidemarie innocently observed, "I have no idea where it came from." Not to be concerned, however, it's just a story.