Astronauts – the new celebrity?

Science
Astronauts – the new celebrity?

239584-Mike-Massimino-Is-The-First-Person-To-Use-Twitter-In-Space
Rad…

Astronaut Mike Massimino became the first human to tweet from space on his final trip to repair the Hubble telescope. It was no contest, however, that he recently also became the first astronaut to reach one million followers on Twitter (@Astro_Mike).

Who will be the first chemist to have 1 million followers? Measuring things by twitter is silly, but still – it’s encouraging.

6 thoughts on “Astronauts – the new celebrity?

  1. Anonymous says:

    Astronauts SHOULD be celebrities. As scientists, astronomers, biologists, physicists and the list goes on. But, I know I will not win this fight. TMZ > Make … for now at least.

  2. premature anti-fascist says:

    Seriously, is there anything *new* about the celebrity of astronauts? From the first wave of the 7 Mercury astronauts, the celebration has been as grass-roots and authentic as a bulb of tang.

    I usually wouldn’t bother commenting, but I’m a little sore at how the space program has become a celebrity factory. Robotic missions get more science and better engineering done, and for my money, they deliver much better on the promise of space flight. But they’re not as politically important, so we’ve got to burn some astronauts every decade or so just to prove we’re serious. It’s like some kind of human sacrifice to the cargo cult gods of the sky.

    When ground controllers become celebrities, that will be a moment for geeks everywhere to take notice.

    1. Anonymous says:

      The “political” importance of the space program was a guise to hide rocket development.

      Ground controllers are just as much a part of the space program as the astronauts are. one cannot exist without the other.

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!

current: @adafruit - previous: MAKE, popular science, hackaday, engadget, fallon, braincraft ... howtoons, 2600...

View more articles by Phillip Torrone

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK