Space: The Final Frontier…for Barfing

Let's face it, Space Child: State-run space programs suck. Here's the latest "news" from the Intergalactic House of Pancakes, or whatever they're calling the multinational tax-hole in the sky these days:

German astronaut Hans Schlegel geared up for his first spacewalk on Wednesday, two days after an illness forced the shuttle Atlantis crew member to skip an outing to install the international space station's new European lab.

Schlegel and American astronaut Rex Walheim donned their spacesuits and were preparing to install a new nitrogen tank on the space station.

In a series of broadcast interviews Tuesday, Schlegel said he was feeling great but was a little anxious about his first venture outside the safe confines of the cabin. He refused to say what had been ailing him, insisting "medical issues are private."

NASA and European Space Agency officials stressed there were no changes to Wednesday's 6 1/2-hour spacewalk on Schlegel's behalf, and that he would do everything just as he'd practiced before last week's launch. No one was opposed to his going outside to perform the strenuous spacewalking work, officials said.

More here. If this is news, then don't bother waking me until the Kree/Skrull war comes a-callin. This may well be the sort of crap–along with the tech-bubble collapse, true–that lured Lou Dobbs from vacationing off-planet at Space.com to attack terrestrial migrants.

NASA last worked the P.R. machine most brilliantly when it ripped off The Simpsons' brilliant Deep Space Homer episode.

For a look at the real future of space travel, check out reason here and here.