Hidden in the mass of terrible news of destructive weather, personal tragedy and general scumminess on the part of Mankind, there are some bright points.  This, for example is a great photograph of a new communications satellite being launched:

      Here is more detailed information on the mission but, in short, this geo-sychronous satellite will be used to make it easier and faster to gather some of the flood of data from Hubble Space telescope and other NASA satellites that produce large amounts of data.  It is part of the planned maintenance and upgrade path for the NASA Space Network, which provides vital support for the data gathering missions, and, ongoing missions like the ISS.   It has some significant hardware (and I assume, software) upgrades that will help it run longer and handle more data with fewer delays and speed issues.    Granted, this is probably not as sexy as a launch to the ISS, or shooting a VW bus to Mars, but, the roll that the NASA Space Network plays is vital to the success of these missions.   They are like the trucks on the Interstate, quietly bringing the necessities of life to us, and only becoming visible when problems occur.

     While it is important enough, I mainly just liked the photograph!   That wonderful arc of flame, punctuated by layers of clouds that the vessel punched through, reminds me that there remains some hope that we, as a world, could take that step out and escape this cradle we live in.   

     Pleasant Dreams

     Bee Man Dave