I love the above picture of John Glenn getting into a frighteningly tiny spacecraft.

Writes The Atlantic:

A half-century ago, the space race was heating up and the Cold War was freezing over. Soviet missile bases discovered in Cuba triggered a crisis that brought the U.S. to the brink of war with the U.S.S.R. Civil rights activists won hard-earned victories against segregationists in the American South, and John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. Algeria gained independence from France and the U.S. slowly escalated its involvement in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Seattle held a World's Fair called the the Century 21 Exposition, celebrating the themes of space, science, and the future. Let me take you 50 years into the past now, for a look at the world as it was in 1962.

With the launch of SpaceX this week, I marvel at how far we've come.

And I'm awe at how much there's still to do.

When the SpaceX Dragon is configured for astronauts, it has room for seven.

It's great to see us finally move beyond the shuttle:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004201,00.html

That's a great article.

And yes, after many years of no progress it feels like we're finally moving forward again with respect to exploring space.

Sweet, the SpaceX Dragon has landed on the space station: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-05-25/dragon-capsule-space-station-arrival/55199492/1

Hoo ah: http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/25/spacex-dragon-docks-with-international-space-station/

Adam, you're forgetting that that spacecraft was designed from the same materials as a clown car. You can actually fit *THIRTY* astronauts in there:

Astronauts would be so much more popular if they wore clown suits.