User:Spaceshuttlediscovery

Hello. My name is Ali. I live in Southern Ontario, Canada. I am currently a mechanical engineering student. I enjoy spaceflight, politics, maps, model making, Formula 1 racing, history, movies, computer games, reading books, biking, and traveling. I try to make changes and add things now and then when I see the need.

March 30 2009
I was reading about Florida Senator Bill Nelson who is trying to extend the Space Shuttle program to 2011. I think this is good, because the Constellation missions starts by 2015, and there is no route to the ISS except Soyuz; and these days the relations between Russia & USA aren't that good. And on Friday, the Senate Budget Committee passed $2.5 billion spending to keep the Shuttle flying well into 2011. The $2.5 billion spending bill hasnèt been legalized yet, but if it is going to be, it is going to be by the end of April.

Also, I hear Futurama executives and FOX have been talking, but nobody knows how it is going. I really hope Futurama comes back because it is epic, awesome and an instant classic.

April 14 2009
Well, in the last week, I really developed an interest about planes in WWII. I even bought the Seasons 1&2 of Dogfights, a series that show great Dogfights in WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Also, I learned about some documentaries in the name of Battle 360, about USS Enterprise, a carrier in WWII.

I am also making some airplane models and painting them. It is quite fun.

June 24 2009
Summer is here and so is the launch of STS-127. I had the chance of seeing the launch of STS-125 this May when I was in Florida. STS-127 is projected to launch on July 11. And STS-128 is set to launch in August. Also, just last week the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The LRO is currently in lunar orbit. The Mars Science Laboratory is set to launch in 2011. On Monday, I had my graduation, and I received my yearbook, my t-shirts, and my report card.

July 15 2009
Today is the day, at least I hope, that STS-127 will launch.I heard about a week ago, that Futurama was confirmed for a sixth season on Comedy Central in mid-2010. Currently, I am watching the STS-127 countdown for a launch on 6:03 EDT which is 4 and a half hours away. This is the sixth launch attempt that will likely be scrubbed (hope not).

August 14 2011
Well, it has been a very long time since I last logged onto this account, and just two years ago seems like a very long time ago now. I know that perhaps I may give a little too much information on here, but who cares? Anyhow, the last shuttle launch,STS-135 is now behind us and we have the MPCV and the SLS to look forward to. I have recently heard that the MPCV (Orion) will have its first launch in 2013 on a Delta IV Heavy. There is also the MSL Curiosity launch this November to see. On Friday, August 12th, I got to watch the Perseid meteor shower and saw 7 meteors. I have recently gotten an interest for film photography. I got a 1983 Canon T50 SLR camera and a Speedlite 244T flash.

March 9 2017
Wow, it's been quite a while. Interesting to see posts from eight years ago made by a young kid. I might as well write a couple of things here.

At the moment, I am finishing up my fourth year of studying mechanical engineering. I was luckily able to get a job at a solar panel company near my mother's workplace, so I will be able to stay at home and commute with my mom. This is great because I won't need to rent a second place or buy a car. On Sunday, my friends and I will get together to watch some movies. Renee suggested The Shining but I'm not really feeling a horror movie. We'll see, anyways. I got an accounting test on Saturday that I should really be studying for instead of writing a journal entry on Wikipedia.

In the wider world, I am exasperated at the rise of the far right. I feel that society has really suffered a loss of empathy and compassion in recent years, with people becoming more and more uncompassionate and intolerant, at least with heightened emotions surpassing objective facts. Just look south of the border to Donald. I think this is because of decreased social connections due to spending more and more time in front of the computer. Of course, I have no data to back this up, just a gut feeling, perhaps I'm wrong.

Anyhow, there is an election next week in the Netherlands in which I'm hoping Wilders' PVV will come in at most second. Even if they did come in first, it seems hard for them to form government, which is good. In France, presidential elections are getting closer. Fillon seems to have really fallen in the polls to third place after Penelopegate, with Macron and Le Pen head--to-head in the polls. Second round polls, however, show Macron and Fillon both at a large margin over Le Pen, so I'm hoping cooler heads will prevail. Macron seems like a great guy. I'm glad the PS chose Hamon over Valls, because more moderates went to Macron, giving him the edge.

In Turkey, a constitutional referendum is being held on the question of giving dictatorial powers to Erdogan, but of course, they deny that. They claim that this new constitution will end terrorism and make Turkey so so powerful, believe me. Of course, it's all bullshit. Following a journalist named Caglar Cilara who really has very interesting and revelatory guests on his program, and uploads these to YouTube. It appears that No votes are ahead for the moment. I hope this trend will continue, and No will win, and maybe cause the 15-year-old AKP government to finally fall.

Anyways, I guess see you in another six years!