Altitude (The Road To Space)

Download the music at http://th1swasatriumph.bandcamp.com/ along with "Limitless", the soundtrack I composed for Welcome To The Universe III. And if you don't feel like paying for it, I guess we can all live with it. I'll continue making videos regardless . . . but maybe you like it enough to own it. That's a nice dream.

The piano coda to Altitude was added as an afterthought, and you can download that too, at a substantially lower price. I'm not made of stone.

This video started life as a general endorsement of science, and became a genuflection at space travel. We need more space, and related activities.

There are some chronological, national and factual discrepancies in the footage as I edited it. I'm aware that shuttles seldom fly to the moon, and that there are technological jumps spanning decades between clips. I viewed such errors as irrelevant when taken with the overall message, which is that the achievements within various space initiatives rank high - for me, at least - in the annals of history.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• space
• science
• nasa
• shuttle
• iss
• moon
• earth
• orbit
• stars
• heavens
• russian
• program
• exploration
• technology
• rocket
• booster
• wow
• this
• stuff
• is
• awesome
• music
• electronica
• beats
• synth
• orchestra
• soundtrack

[technicallyabsurd]

I think a popular misconception among the next generation will be that we took space shuttles to the moon.

[Th1sWasATriumph]

@technicallyabsurd Yes, I basically just threw everything into the edit.

[OlenWhitaker]

There was a generation that was born before any human had ever achieved powered flight and who lived to see us walk on the moon. What does my generation have to show for itself? Facebook? Twitter? A bunch of fucking mental masturbation. We could have been to Mars ten years ago if we really wanted it. What do I have to look forward to? Apparently, the countdown to the day that we destroy our whole species over differing interpretations of bronze age fairly tales. Why am I a humanist, again?

[Th1sWasATriumph]

@OlenWhitaker . . . and while I think it will be amazing when it happens, it will be to satisfy a different urge than simply discovering things.

[OlenWhitaker]

@Th1sWasATriumph ...The next generation will see what? NASA buying rides to the ISS from Russia? I agree that we are progressing on the science front and I'm thrilled by that, but that isn't the only reason to explore. Climbing Mt. Everest may not teach us much if anything about the universe, but it teaches us about ourselves and that is worth much. The urge to explore for exploration's sake is, IMO, one of humanity's most admirable qualities. We should go to Mars because it's there.

[Th1sWasATriumph]

@OlenWhitaker You're deliberately ignoring what is actually happened so you can whine about Mars, it seems. The expense and complication of sending humans to Mars is, well, staggering, especially considering all the unmanned data and image collecting that could take place with the same budget. You want to think that space is dead to us, and it really isn't, and using platitudes like "learning about ourselves" won't change that. Why shouldn't we colonise the Moon first?

[DarkMatter2525]

I get pissed when people say that space programs are a waste of time and money. They say that this or that is impossible, like the many people who thought it was impossible to fly, break the sound barrier, or have a computer that could fit in a single room. No imagination. They say that we need to fix the problems here on earth first. There's always going to be problems. Getting off this rock and not putting all our eggs in one basket IS part of the solution.

[patienceking]

Thumb for the tunes.

[Fombolo]

sir, that was beautiful

nice tune

[FoldedTapestry]

@OlenWhitaker I so dearly love when people mirror my feelings about the world one hundred percent. Well said.

[OlenWhitaker]

@Th1sWasATriumph Yeah, the above post was fueled as much by a 12 pack of beer as actual frustration over what I see as a lack of interest by the general public in space exploration. As you say, there are some great unmanned missions going on that are expanding our knowledge of the solar system almost by the day. Still, there is something uniquely ennobling about actual human exploration of new frontiers. My parents generation saw men walk on the moon; my generation saw the space shuttle...

[Th1sWasATriumph]

@OlenWhitaker You should look into current, impending and planned probe missions. There's a lot going on. As for Mars, it's not as simple as "if we really wanted it". One trip to Mars would have the same budget as multiple unmanned missions; are you after research and data or just the human satisfaction of seeing humans on Mars? I can see many reasons why going to Mars would be a lot less productive than sending endless probes and rovers around the solar system . . .