I dunno about popular, but what makes it cool to me is that all of it is out there while we are all stuck down here. Only a handful of humans (and a few unlucky animals) have made the journey to near-space and there is sooo much more to that vast expanse than we’ll ever know, or get to experience.
Just look at the infrequency of posts in this forum and you can see just how popular the genre is. Sometimes you have to go days before finding something new to read or write about. It’s a wonder anyone builds real space kits anymore if this forum is any indication.
Every now and then Hollywood gets a good story from this area and makes a great film about it. Look at “The Right Stuff” or “Apollo 13”. Or the series “From the Earth to the Moon”. All of these have inspired my to build something (although at this point I have only bought the kits- they are still in the stash in the to do stack). No real human non combat adventure can match the daring of the true life star voyagers and their exploits. All of our best qualities shine forth at these moments.
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Because I never have enough “space” for my models, my stash, my paints, my diorama materials, …sigh! [sigh]–The list goes on and on!
There’s a rumor going round about you. The red hair…
???
Of all the models kits I recieved way back in Christmas1973 (3 models in Mannheim, Germany), I was in the 3rd grade, and it was the Monogram “Columbia” that peaked my interest the most that year. I took that model to the moon and beyond…
Why?
Space is the most hostile environment known to man. So, naturally we want to go there!
Space is? I thought it was the south Bronx. [;)]
Because it is a mystery of infinity…which is desparatly need to store the stash and display built kits!!
Rounds Complete!!
Well, the Chinese are certainly making it interesting with the pace of ther program.
Perhaps it will lite a fire under our program otherwise they make it to the moon and we are still on the ground.
The pace of the Chinese space program is so delibrate that it makes glaciers look fast. They took 10 years to send up 3 manned missions. In the same amount of time NASA went from the earth to the moon.
You evidently haven’t been to my sister-in-laws place. [;)]
On another note, I was going to watch the Space Station pass over tonight…problem is it is overcast…so much for a perfect pass overhead. [V]
I got to watch Neil Armstrong take those first steps as it happened. I saw Walter Cronkite tear up, but 4 words did for me, man, and none of 'em Armstrong’s… The words were, “Space… The Final Frontier…”
these are the voyages!!! ditto. Too bad this economy is likely to take another decade out of our plans to return to the moon (and I remember when Werner was going to go to Mars by the end of 1980!!!
Fine with me if we don’t go back…don’t think we need to spend more billions of dollars to send a few hotshots out inta space for kicks…most expensive amusement park ride in history----and it wasn’t even “space” as poularly defined…going from earth to the moon is like me running down the block to get a loaf of bread…
as opposed to wasting money on ungrateful people here on Earth who have no lasting grattitude for Foreign Aid subsidies? When man stops exploring, he stagnates.
We need to cut out the unappreciated foreign aid as well…charity starts at home…
user=“stikpusher”]as opposed to wasting money on ungrateful people here on Earth who have no lasting grattitude for Foreign Aid subsidies? When man stops exploring, he stagnates.
you mean, the rich wall street bastards who are using MY tax money to make their golden parachutes? oh wait, they ARE grateful for the subsidies 
I agree with the 'exploring" part, I just dont think it should be MANNED exploration. The shuttle program has sucked the lifeforce/budget out of the un-manned missions which have a much higher “return” in terms of data and scientific finds.
user=“Manstein’s revenge”]We need to cut out the unappreciated foreign aid as well…charity starts at home…
Manny, I can PM you my address so you can start your charity work 
Actually, if you look at the actual numbers vis-a-vis our GNP, non-military foreign aid is a very very small component of our expenditures. Unfortunatelly, its distribution is also massively mismanaged. Also the Gvmt and media dont do a good job of recording & promoting the sucesses, only the errors. Sort of like you never see a newspaper article on how many planes landed safely last year…
“Actually, if you look at the actual numbers vis-a-vis our GNP, non-military foreign aid is a very very small component of our expenditures.”
Yeah, I’ve heard that rationale a lot lately, especially in terms of political pork and earmarks from presidential candidates…may be a small percentage of budget, but it is a heck of a lot of money to an average person like myself…and pointing out that “pork” is only a small percentage of our budget isn’t a very good defense–in my mind–for defending spending billions of dollars…