This morning my Facebook feed exploded with lots of commentaries and memes and parodies of the recent Amazon Blue Origin spaceflight starring Katy Perry.
It seems that I am not Robinson Crusoe in my reservations about the heroism and nobility of this eleven minute ride to the lower limits of outer space.
More than a few people have commented on the environmental implications of a pointless rocket launch (well, pointless except for the publicity for Amazon). Others have indicated that six rich and famous women taking a rocket ride is well and good, but most people in America have to worry about rent and healthcare costs.
The vacuousness and self-serving nature of the comments by Ms Perry and her companions have also underlined the futility of this particular adventure.
Which causes me to think about a rather silly 1967 film starring Don Knotts, The Reluctant Astronaut. For those who did not watch Sunday afternoon movie matinees on TV in the 1970s, The Reluctant Astronaut stars Don Knotts as an amusement park ride operator who ends up travelling to space on a fully automated spaceship, so as to demonstrate that space travel does not have to be only for elite test pilots.
Sounds like a precursor to Blue Origin, no?
The only real difference, aside from the lack of cleavage, is that Don Knotts succeeds in disabling the autopilot and then being at risk of being stuck in space.
Fear not however. His experience as the operator of a space themed amusement park ride gives him sufficient skill to trigger the retrorockets and return safely to Earth. If I recall correctly (it is well over 40 years since I last saw this film), his capsule lands on the deck of the aircraft carrier tasked with retrieving him.
Lost For Words! 