In what could be considered a mock protest to the end of the Space Shuttle program photographer Neil DaCosta and art director Sara Philips have posted a gallery of astronauts suicide photos. Apparently this is the only thing an astronaut has to look forward to these days. Dubbed the Dark Comedy Project the photos depict a person in a full astronaut suit posing in different positions as if they have just committed suicide . Some of these photos some people may find grotesque, inappropriate and offensive, and some people may find them darkly humorous. You be the judge.
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Astronauts are highly educated people (masters, phd's, engineers, scientist's, etc) and won't off themselves just because one aspect of their current career is for the time being, over.
That being said, I really dislike this photo-set. The space shuttle was capable of putting objects into earth orbit. That's it. The ISS is nearly finished, and its lifespan is already approaching halfway. If our goal as a race is to put a bunch of crap in LEO and carry on, then we've lost our ambition.
The shuttle won't get us to mars. It won't get us to Europa. It won't even get us to our own moon.
It was time to kill it, and in keeping with American administrative philosophy, privatization was inevitable. And since we've never had a private sector space industry that was inspiring enough to enter collective consciousness, it's impossible to discount the idea that private space travel may be the way to go. This is 100% experimental, and private industry is just as likely to succeed.
What's worse is the argument that we must keep the shuttle to preserve jobs. The day we start holding scientific advancement back because of logistics and sympathy is the day we've jumped off the train to innovation and exploration.
Naysaying is just holding us back. The shuttle was old. It's done.
Get over it. The future will not be held back by sentimental attachments to obsolete space-gliders.
It already IS held back. Cancelling the Shuttle with nothing to replace it means relying on 35 year old russian technology to get US astronauts into space.
Obama is relying on private companies that have yet to even bring something to the table that has even the capabilities of a Gemini capsule.
Private companies have zero chance of getting anywhere. The first accident and the company will shut down. They will be unable to get anything beyond simple low earth orbit capsules. The only solution to moving past this 40 year step back in technology is to have a global space consortium where the resources of the entire planet can be brought to bear to further space interests.
Or just give up.
At this point, we should encourage our representatives to maintain funding for the JWST. There is near zero risk of loss of life on these types of projects.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/US_lawmakers_vote_to_kill_Hubble_successor_999.html
Poor USA. You need to build a space ship.
Sarcasm and humor still are a huge part of my personality, and I typically enjoy and encourage these pieces of art. However, I suggest you re-think your decision to put suicide in the humor department. Thanks.