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-- Spock
Stop Prohibition in Space NOW!!!
2000-11-01 16:07:55
Today marks the first day of the permanent occupation of the International Space Station (ISS) as one American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts move in for a planned 115 day stay.
It is likely that over the 15 or more years that ISS is operational, it will always have someone in residence. And hopefully, when it becomes time to retire ISS there will be a multitude of other human occupied space stations. That means it is possible that yesterday, Oct 31, 2000 was the last day EVER that a human being was not in space.
Which is a cool thought, but not what this article is about.
It seems that NASA has decided that alcohol is bad and much like the U.S. Navy has on its ships since the early 1900's, has banned booze in space.
Not that I'm surprised about this. NASA is one of the more conservative departments in the federal bureaucracy. "No Fun", seems to be their motto. But their Puritan policy are not only grating, but as far as I'm concerned, blatantly unconstitutional. States and not the federal government control alcohol - and there are no states in space. So as far as I'm concerned, outlawing liquor is space in a civil rights violation against anyone in a 400 mile orbit.
As an unabashed and unrepentant drinker, I find this policy to abhorrent and demand that NASA not only immediately rescind this policy, but also send up a large case of vodka in the next Progress resupply mission. And, I also demand that they immediately begin work on a bar/pub section for the space station that will serve a variety of mixed drinks, wine and beer.
And while I hate to be a single issue voter, I'm letting all the politician running know that I'll vote for whomever has the best Booze in Space policy.
I think everyone reading this article would like to visit space someday. But if NASA has its way, after a hard day's work in space, come 5 o'clock, you can forget about Miller Time. And that's just wrong!!! Write your Congressman folks and let them know that you find prohibition in space as unacceptable as you find it down here.
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