Saturday, November 15, 2008

High Achievers

You know how NASA has that plane they take astronauts up in, where they can experience weightlessness briefly? I was told last night that they also do science experiements up there, and when they ran out of more serious stuff to experiment with (crystals are very serious), they decided to bring up water balloons.

This was a whopping reminder to me that most of these guys (and gals, yes?) were once military pilots -- frat boys with buzz cuts and a dangerous curiosity tempered (somewhat) by genius IQs and international law. I wonder not that they brought up water balloons, but that it took them so long to do so. Surely, if they could toss pumpkins from the plane with some assurance that no one on the ground would be hurt, they'd be doing that, too.

6 comments:

Ben said...

It's stories like this that make me proud to be a taxpayer.

(Actually, I think that story is awesome--I would have loved to be up there.)

Also, congrats on the new profile photo. Really does your chin justice.

Holly said...

I think the lipstick really makes the green in my eyes pop.

Anonymous said...

One time, at Navy camp, I almost bombed an iceberg. I'm pretty sure an elevated IQ had little to do with squashing the idea, but rather the image of a possible unexploded MK-20 floating around next to an unsuspecting penguin. I wouldn't be surprised if it would've violated a couple of international laws, too. Details. Streaking the STROG, on the other hand...

Anonymous said...

STROG? Have I heard this story?

Anonymous said...

I believe you've heard something similar to this one. STROG = STRait Of Gibraltar. We escorted carrier battle groups through the STROG once in a while. Our P-3 NATOPS (Naval Aviation Training and Operational Procedures Standardization) specified required personal equipment as: boots, survival vest, gloves, dog tags, helmet. NATOPS assumed too much.

Anonymous said...

Ah, yes. I made the mistake of telling a friend's 12-year-old daughter that story. From then on, whenever I mentioned you, she'd say, "He's the one who sky-dives naked!"