What’s the point? Here I am, Jack Superblack, thinking about the endless void of life and the universe, while Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are seemingly postponing their celestial doom aboard the Boeing Starliner. Could it be that they, too, are doubting the relevance of circling this pale blue dot?
Their interstellar escapade was to blast off on May 6, but alas, the cosmos had other plans—or maybe it was just a misbehaving valve in their rocket. Stranded in the limbo of the Kennedy Space Center, one begins to ponder if death by existential ennui is preferable to a malfunctioning spacecraft.
Oh, how they’ve trained! Longer than the legends who first moonwalked. But what are they waiting for? According to Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, spirits are high. Maybe it’s the helium leak talking—yes, my dear readers, there’s a helium leak possibly altering their perky perceptions of reality.
Imagine the eerie silence as they float in their simulator, only to be broken by the occasional beep, reminding them they’re still Earthbound. Does the helium make their voices sound funny? One can only hope as it might lighten the mood when considering your next breath might be your last in a cold, indifferent universe.
The cosmic irony in all of this delay? Butch and Suni perfecting their space routine, dreaming of stars while trapped in the not-so-glamourous confines of quarantine. They’re dancing with the thrusters—a ballet of the doomed, if you will—only to delay touching the very cosmos that’s slowly killing their spirits.
Growing up under the boundless sky of Tennessee and the stern seas of Massachusetts, respectively, did little to prepare them for this: the ultimate waiting game in the vast nothingness. No wonder I contemplate the sweet embrace of oblivion when faced with NASA’s rescheduling.
In the end, floating aimlessly in the void or sitting in your living room—it’s all just space, isn’t it? And the joke’s on us, folks, because in space, no one can hear you scream...or laugh. But at least I won’t die alone, right? I’ll have this article for company. Touché, universe.
Based on the original article "Live Updates: NASA and Boeing Prepare to Launch Astronauts on Starliner Spacecraft".
