It's been going on for hours now, Europe being five hours ahead of the U.S. Beginning this morning they began lining up for a job, hundreds, perhaps thousands.
And what a job it is. The description might read like this: "Wanted: Space person. Must have math or science degree and three years of related work experience. Time spent flying advanced jets a plus. Traveling required. Applicants must be willing to rocket into space, possibly to the moon."
“Based on the interest we have seen so far, it will be a huge number,” says Gerhard Thiele, head of the recruiting drive for the European Space Agency (ESA).
It’s not just Europe. Canada and Japan are also recruiting astronauts, as is U.S. space agency NASA, with a closing date of July 1.
Yes, space is once again cool. So's the moon. Nearly 50 years after the first space race between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, and 35 years since the last American flew to the moon, a very different world has its eyes on the heavens.
ESA is accepting applications for four astronaut positions, and it's the first time in 16 years. One of these people could just possibly end up leaving their footprint where Neil Armstrong first walked in 1969. And the whole process has gotten huge coverage across Europe.
For Japan and Europe, the rampup is for work on the international space station, with a trip to the moon quite in the picture.
For the U.S., the mission is the moon. Four years ago, President Bush set a goal of sending Americans back to the moon by 2020. The 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing is in 2019. After establishing a moon base, the hope is to get astronauts to Mars eventually.
Also ramping up for space exploration are China and the country that got the whole thing off the ground in the early 60s with Sputnik, Russia.
That's about when space exploration was last really cool. There was the science, of course, but also a powerful storyline at the time, the clash between the world's two super powers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., and the diametrical opposites these two countries represented, capitalism and freedom on one side, collectivism and the will of the state on the other.
But then it was a far more optimistic world, the looming fear of total war notwithstanding. America's economy was booming, it had a young president, John F. Kennedy, and what seemed an unshakable faith in the power of scientists and engineers to conquer all. What killed it all was the murder of Kennedy, rising strife in the U.S. over Vietnam, and a civil rights movement that had turned increasingly violent.
There is optimism this time around as well, but without the storyline and the clashing egos of super powers. It really is about the science, and that extends to the natural sciences as people realize these disciplines may hold the answers to the threat of global warming.
There's also a mood of cooperation. Says Thiele: “It is probably fair to say that if we see an interest in space today we can assume it is not masked by nationalistic elements. It is a purer interest in space.”
***
Meanwhile, elsewhere in popcult, “Iron Man” fell out of the top spot at the box offices after two weeks, giving way to the new release “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” which brought in $56.6 million in ticket sales.
In DVD rentals for the week ended May 11, according to IMDb.com, the new release “P.S. I Love You” was No. 1, followed by last week’s No. 1, “27 Dresses.”
On iTunes this morning, Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” was No. 1 for the second week in a row, followed this week by Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocketful of Sunshine.”
And in books, Barbara Walters’ highly publicized autobiography “Audition” placed at No. 1 on The New York Times’ hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list for the week ended May 10 and also was No. 1 on USA Today’s book chart for the week ended May 11.
|
TOP MOVIES
Weekend Box Office Estimates
Weekend of May 16-18, 2008
|
|
Rank
|
MOVIE
|
Engagements
|
Box office (millions)
|
|
1
|
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (
Buena Vista)
|
3,929
|
$56.57
|
|
2
|
Iron Man (
Paramount)
|
4,154
|
$31.20
|
|
3
|
What Happens in Vegas (Fox)
|
3,255
|
$13.85
|
|
4
|
Speed Racer (Warner Bros.)
|
3,606
|
$7.65
|
|
5
|
Baby Mama (Universal)
|
2,503
|
$4.59
|
|
6
|
Made of Honor (Sony)
|
2,816
|
$4.50
|
|
7
|
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Universal)
|
1,601
|
$2.54
|
|
8
|
Harold and Kumar Escape from
Guantanamo
Bay (Warner Bros.)
|
1,403
|
$1.80
|
|
9
|
The Forbidden Kingdom (Lionsgate)
|
997
|
$1.00
|
|
10
|
The Visitor (Overture)
|
224
|
$0.69
|
|
Source: Yahoo Movies
|
|
IMDb TOP DVD RENTALS
Week ending May 11, 2008
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
|
1
|
P.S. I Love You
|
-
|
|
2
|
27 Dresses
|
1
|
|
3
|
First Sunday
|
-
|
|
4
|
The Golden Compass
|
2
|
|
5
|
Cloverfield
|
3
|
|
6
|
Juno
|
4
|
|
7
|
Charlie Wilson’s War
|
5
|
|
8
|
I’m Not There
|
-
|
|
9
|
Over Her Dead Body
|
-
|
|
10
|
There Will Be Blood
|
7
|
|
Source: IMDB
|
|
ITUNES TOP 8 SONG DOWNLOADS
for week ended Monday, May 19, 2008
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
|
1
|
Take a Bow, Rihanna
|
|
2
|
Pocketful of Sunshine, Natasha Bedingfield
|
|
3
|
Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis
|
|
4
|
Lollipop, Lil Wayne
|
|
5
|
4 Minutes, Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake
|
|
6
|
Love In This Club, Usher
|
|
7
|
Leavin’, Jesse McCartney
|
|
8
|
No Air, Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
|
|
Source: iTunes
|
|
NEW YORK
TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending May 10, 2008
|
|
Fiction (hardback)
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
Weeks on chart
|
|
1
|
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
|
-
|
1
|
|
2
|
Sunday at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
|
1
|
2
|
|
3
|
Phantom Prey by John Sandford
|
-
|
1
|
|
4
|
The Whole Truth by David Baldacci
|
2
|
3
|
|
5
|
Careless In Red by Elizabeth George
|
-
|
1
|
|
Nonfiction (hardback)
|
|
1
|
Audition by Barbara Walters
|
-
|
1
|
|
2
|
Home by Julie Andrews
|
4
|
6
|
|
3
|
Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
|
3
|
3
|
|
4
|
A Remarkable Mother by Jimmy Carter
|
7
|
2
|
|
5
|
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
|
11
|
2
|
|
Fiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
|
1
|
19
|
|
2
|
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
|
5
|
36
|
|
3
|
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
|
4
|
36
|
|
4
|
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
|
3
|
36
|
|
5
|
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
|
2
|
14
|
|
Nonfiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
|
2
|
68
|
|
2
|
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
|
1
|
67
|
|
3
|
Marley & Me by John Grogan
|
4
|
9
|
|
4
|
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
|
-
|
20
|
|
5
|
90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey
|
3
|
81
|
|
Source: New York Times
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
USA
TODAY BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending May 11, 2008
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
|
1
|
Audition by Barbara Walters
|
-
|
|
2
|
The Hollow by Nora Roberts
|
101
|
|
3
|
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
|
-
|
|
4
|
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
|
1
|
|
5
|
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The
Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
|
-
|
|
6
|
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
|
3
|
|
7
|
Sunday at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
|
2
|
|
8
|
The Good Guy by Dean Koontz
|
4
|
|
9
|
Phantom Prey by John Sandford
|
-
|
|
10
|
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
|
8
|
|
Source:
USA Today
|
