The Explorers Club
No. CXXXII - Project Apollo, Part V: The Command/Service Module, Lunar Module, and Lunar Rover.














I know the stature of the Lunar Rover doesn't begin to compare to that of the iconic Command/Service Module and Lunar Module, but, come on, we put a car on the Moon. How spectacularly American of us!

Command Module & Lunar Module
Apollo 7 - C.S.M. only, unnamed
Apollo 8 - C.S.M. only, unnamed
Apollo 9 - Gumdrop & Spider
Apollo 10 - Charlie Brown & Snoopy
Apollo 11 - Columbia & Eagle
Apollo 12 - Yankee Clipper & Intrepid
Apollo 13 - Odyssey & Aquarius
Apollo 14 - Kitty Hawk & Antares
Apollo 15 - Endeavour & Falcon
Apollo 16 - Casper & Orion
Apollo 17 - America & Challenger

Prelude to Project PANDORA
I'm going to ask out on a date the fetching blonde girl in my Labor Econ class. Her name is Jessica (the third girl I've liked by that name, coincidence or cause?) and she's a lovely creature, plus nerdy, funny, and from all appearances warmly appreciative of my particular brand of hilarity. It's been literally years since I've been out on a date; so, I come to you, my treasured readers, hat in hand, to plumb your collective experience and wisdom for ideas. Ask her "to get coffee sometime"? I don't drink coffee and view coffee bars as ridiculous. Ask her to another meal, lunch seeming more casual than dinner? Just an activity? A meal and an activity? The last time I asked a girl out to dinner-and-a-movie the evening ended with us sitting in her car while I listened to a twenty-minute, unbelievably conceited lecture on why she and I couldn't date. (For Pete's sake, woman, just say you don't want to go out with me again!) A play? Bowling? Mini-golf? An evening of billiards and darts? A visit to a museum, subquestion: in general or to see a specific exhibit?

I've no fear of rejection, though it is a distinct possibility and she could clearly do better than me. I've no hesitancy in risking all on the asking, the squandered opportunity with A Girl Named Hell-ya having made all too clear the self-sabotaging folly of hesitation. The absolute worst case scenario is that she rejects me harshly and the remaining few weeks of our class together become awfully awkward, but even in that case I will have more recent data to examine when the time comes to begin Project PANDORA in earnest. I'm going to ask her out on one of the next two occasions I see her, that much is set in stone, the task now is to sculpt my approach, refine my proposal, and begin honing my very rusty technique.

Please leave your ideas and suggestions in the comments feature, they will all be greatly appreciated. I thank you.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
They Might Be Giants, "Jessica" from the Why Does the Sun Shine? E.P. (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I couldn't resist.