rocket launch today: what we know

Sentinel-6B: Another Billion-Dollar Band-Aid on a Gushing Wound?

Alright, so they launched another satellite. Big deal. Sentinel-6B, the "sequel" to the Michael Freilich, is up there now, supposedly watching sea levels. A billion-dollar "international collaboration" to measure the damn ocean. Seriously?

NASA's Karen St. Germain says this info "underpins navigation, search and rescue..." Give me a break. It's about climate change, plain and simple, even if they're too chicken to say it out loud because of, y'know, politics.

The Inconvenient Truth (They Won't Mention)

They're measuring sea levels because the ice caps are melting. Coastlines are eroding. Miami will be underwater by the time my grandkids are old enough to buy overpriced avocado toast. But hey, let's just launch a satellite and pretend we're doing something really important for navigation.

And the cost? Split "evenly" between the US and Europe. So, a cool half-billion from our pockets. For what? More data to confirm what we already know? We're doomed?

This thing uses "cloud-penetrating radar" to measure sea heights down to an inch. An inch! Across 90% of the world's oceans! Are you kidding me with this level of precision while entire islands are disappearing? It's like using a micrometer to measure the Titanic sinking.

Speaking of sinking, remember when everyone was freaking out about Y2K? Stockpiling canned goods and building bunkers? Now that was a grift. At least this grift involves actual rockets and satellites, which is admittedly cooler...slightly.

The SpaceX Factor: Shiny Object Distraction

Of course, SpaceX is involved. Elon gets his name in the headlines, NASA gets its data, and the taxpayers get the bill. Win-win-lose, depending on who you ask. The Falcon 9 booster, B1097, making its third flight. Recycled rockets, recycled ideas.

Vandenberg Space Force Base, launching at 9:21 p.m. local time. I can picture the scene: rich Californians sipping artisanal kombucha on their balconies, watching the pretty light streak across the sky. "Oh, look, darling, another sign of the apocalypse! Pass the caviar."

They even had a weather guy, some Lieutenant Harbin, giving a pre-launch press conference. "Optimistic the weather would cooperate..." 60% chance of violating weather rules. These people are gambling with our planet's future. Or, at least, that's how it feels somedays.

And the FAA curfew? Seriously? They're restricting launches to between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. because of a government shutdown that ended ages ago? Bureaucracy at its finest. It's amazing anything ever gets done.

Is This Progress, or Just Expensive Procrastination?

So, here's my question: are we actually solving anything with these satellites, or are we just generating fancy graphs for politicians to ignore? Are we using this data to change anything, or just to write more reports about how screwed we are?

I mean, what's the endgame here? More studies? More conferences? More "international collaborations" that cost billions and achieve next to nothing? Maybe I'm just being cynical. Maybe this data really will save us all. But let's be real, ain't nobody holding their breath.

Just Polishing the Brass on the Titanic