Let's say polls were way off resulting in newspapers with headline errors. But the printed newspaper has gone wayside along with all those "hard to reach" people on landlines. However there is the internet. I did a screen grab of news website a week or two after the 2012 election that has a Romney infotainment article on the side, "we're confident we will win this election."

Yes, Solar Max was the first to be repaired. And there were some other satellites that were retrieved and brought back.

But (yes there are always bad excuses) cost of flying Shuttle is far more expensive than the satellite itself. I remember in 1970s/1980s there was lots of talk about space tugs, then poof all such articles disappeared. Later in 1990s in a project management class, instructor mentioned a parametric study on space tugs resulted in energy changes to change orbits from typical 250mile at 28.5 deg Shuttle orbit to get to various satellites will take more energy than to send a spacecraft to the Moon. Shuttle could change orbit inclination but not by much (I think about 1 deg). Damn physics again prevents science fiction becoming reality.

On a side note, Shuttle capable of retrieving satellites was something the Soviets ***did not*** like as their recon birds were ripe for pickings.

On NASAwatch someone posted this insightful comment:
"I blame most of the destination argument on the creation of the Mars underground in the 1980's. Prior to that NASA was focused on using the Shuttle for industrialization in LEO with projects like demonstrating the repair and return of satellites, building structural items in orbit, tethers, etc., all logical starting points for building a Cislunar industrial capability that would have given us the Solar System. NASA didn't even have plans to send robots to Mars. By advocating that we needed to skip the Moon and go rushing off to Mars they started this entire useless destination debate that has paralyzed space policy ever since."

great suggestion

David Morrison of SETI has said only need to nudge it by impacting it with a spacecraft, that will change it's trajectory [of course need to do it way ahead before impact, and careful calculations]. Other than that, sounds like excuse to keep some A or H bombs lying around. And of course using them on a NEO is very dramatic, add Bruce Willis and you have a classic (there was another asteroid movie that came out same time, it has been forgotten). Plus ever since the movie "Marooned," a common movie plot of problem solved are secret USAF spaceships (as illustrated by SensitiveMale).

I've noticed veterans that have been in combat rarely talk about it. When they do, a common theme is how chaotic it was. And those who talk a lot about battles and firefights were never in one.

I mean this can't happen in real life.

I wonder how often fibers are cut by a backhoe to lay other utilities but didn't do proper homework prior to digging a trench. Or if some of these intentional cuts were actually accidental (or removing old fibers but mistakenly took out the ones still in service). Kind of like the old phrase of stupidity over malicious the likely cause or something like that.

you realize that nobody under 50 knows what you are talking about.

Interesting comment. It seems to me people in this country don't have the culture or mindset for high speed rail. In US especially California they are trains of railroad tracks that great grandpa built with grade crossings (problems of cars getting hit by trains, people committing suicide). In other countries HSR are systems (and there are no RR crossings, roads and walkways either go over or under). And then there is the "government is the problem!" bitching while infrastructure continues to deteriorate in this country. I don't see private companies stepping in to fill what needs to be done (except for exclusive areas, not region wide).

Though there are many supporters of HSR in high places, I get suspicious they're mostly motivated for profit (huge construction contracts). I also have email subscription to USHSR, I notice a complete lack of any kind of ASCE participation in all their conferences (maybe they have representation, I haven't find them). But occasionally USHSR puts out some insightful comments such as this:
"Congress members who continue to block funding for high speed rail are increasingly being seen as preventing progress and solutions to the nation's problems. These members of Congress can even be viewed as un-American sitting doing nothing as the nation suffers with our deteriorating transportation systems."

Though Musk's concept is interesting, can it be scaled to cover everywhere? and not just choice places that has business?

What about comparing Musk with that visionary automobile pioneer? There are major differences but I think much better comparison than to a fictional character of Tony Stark. At least Musk has produced usable hardware while Tucker got bogged down with prototypes (hey, Telsa almost went belly-up in 2008).

I guess if you have to go, leave "feet first."

It seems most phone calls I get are from robotelemarketers. Sometimes the person will leave message of "hello, hello, anyone there?" as if they didn't listen to the intro "please leave a message after the tone." If you don't want to leave a message, you should have understood nobody is home (with exception of do I want to pick up the phone for someone important like a friend calling for realtime conversation).

What gets me is people who leave longwinded messages, talking at slow-slow rate. Then at end of their "War and Peace novel" message, they leave their phone number at warp speed.

Maybe they don't want a populace capable of critical thought as the populace might question more about those in power. Or not be as gullible to media propaganda.

Going to college in 1980s, doing some work here and there, borrowed $5K of student loans but after graduating I only had to pay off that 5K (it seemed like it took forever). I also remembered how difficult it was to get a credit card which was frustrating but looking back it prevented me from going crazy with spending.

To get a credit card you need a credit history. Credit history is data on TRW showing your credit card history. How in the hell do you get that? I remember graduating but banks would not give me a credit card because I'm not on the TRW database. OK maybe some of you are laughing at me because I didn't know how to game the system but I knew many others in my situation. One friend said I should begin buying a mattress as they give credit to anyone. Then after two years pay it off and hope that payment history is in the TRW database (yes, very common then but they've become unknown history like Soviet Union).

Eventually after two years after moving and transferring my bank account, they asked if I had a credit card which I said no because I'm not on TRW (and I never got around to buying a mattress). Lady said my employment history is good and if my application is denied then I should then see her and she will make sure it gets approved.

Fast forward to 1990s and things sure changed a lot. Tons and tons of easy credit card applications flood mailbox. I had some debt as I had to borrow money to pay for a car I smashed into. I ask the bank guy, "why do they keep sending this stuff to me when I'm already in debt?" He ran some numbers and said I can easily borrow $80K on a simple signature loan (damn, with interest I will be an old man before I pay that off). And also fees for colleges skyrocketed especially for those with 4-year degrees wanting to attend classes to keep up with technology or simply needed new skills to get a new job (many lied on their applications to avoid paying huge fees).

Continuing on with my gripe (spoiler: not much about student loans), also in 1990s it became much more easy to get mortgage loans. Before you had to have a good down payment and a sufficient salary as loan offices do calculations knowing you will need to spend significant amount on general expenses. I remember struggling to get a condo but sometimes meet people that were able to game the system and borrow a lot more than what they qualified for a house (i.e. they earn $2K a month and mortgage payments are $2.2K per month). Somehow they were able to move money around with various investments and eventually be able to pay off the house in 10 years. I see these kind of people really smart on how to do stuff like this. But later when banks made it easy for others to do this, that is when many got into trouble because they did not have the smarts to handle this type of financing. I certainly don't and I remember in late 1990s a friend said I should meet this mortgage broker that can do a really nice refinancing giving lots of extra money to buy a house. After he ran the numbers, I saw I only had about $150 take home per month that had to cover everything else besides the mortgage payment. Good thing I chickened out and not become one of the masses dumped on the streets after dot com bust.

Oh, yes I did get a mattress when I got a credit card.

as hospital food is typically terrible. I was fortunate enough to attend when Nichelle did a presentation at Ames Research Center, everyone seeking autographs later and she signed them all. And I got to get a photo with her (I was holding my communications piece, a Bendix King handheld).