***UPDATE*** This story just from plain weird to devolving into a social critique of why social networking represents both the greatest and worst of humanity in knocking society back to the meteoric shores of a primordial quaint puddle swimming with the first single cell organisms. Twitchy shares that Hickam gracefully deleted his Twitter account after the nails across the chalkboard full assault of despicable children hiding behind their devices in hurling unsanctimonious gibberish towards the senior citizen. While the Twitter community ultimately loses the presence of a dignitary, countercultural groups such as the “furry” movement, a group of young people who dress daily in animal costumes, remain. Hmm… Astronaut figurehead possessing valuable wisdom, or tens of thousands of ungrateful clowns? Everyone loses in this scenario.***
The Trump administration proposal for a “Space Force” may have already a trial run and within the cozy confines of the atmosphere, as a backyard brawl sparked by vulgar language, brought NASA to the forefront of global headlines.
Legendary astronaut and proud product of the American Dream, Homer Hickam, who was destined to work in the West Virginia coal mines in the middle of the 20th century, but instead earned a college scholarship which literally changed the orbital trajectory of his life, engaged in a brief and heated exchange with an internet troll on the social network galaxy of Twitter, which quickly went viral, reports Fox News. (Dear Fox New editors, Hickam did not grow up during the Depression. He was born in 1943. Thank you.)
The 75-year-old Hickam inexplicably responded to a profanity-laden tweet of a user, which contained screaming and bragging rhetoric and using only a fraction of the 280 character limit, in vulgarly celebrating an apparent internship position with NASA. This prompted a bizarre and visceral back and forth, between the account holder, friends, and Hickam. Why the esteemed space veteran would be sucked into engaging a juvenile thread of nonsense, is the billion dollar International Space Station question?
Allegedly, the user, @NaomiH_official, was not too thrilled with Hickam’s retort to the initial profane tweet, which simply said “language”, nor impressed by his accomplishments or celebrity and the 1999 film, “October Sky”, documenting his ascension, along with a group of colleagues from a small town and into the space industry. There are multiple reports out that the vituperative intern ultimately lost their opportunity to work with NASA, as a direct result of the online melee. If this was indeed the work of a legitimate apprentice space candidate, then society is doomed. Prospective Microsoft interns should definitely take to Twitter and lure a guy by the name of Gates, who still serves on the board of directors, into a pointless scuffle. But that falls directly in line with the mentality of certain millennials, as respect and critical thinking skills are largely passe.
While the identity of @NaomiH_official has yet to be determined, as well as the entire incident substantiated beyond the possibility of a well-coordinated trolling scheme on a prominent member of the National Space Council, the moral of the story is adults should leave the tweets for the youngsters, and resist the urge in responding to crazed nonsense. The propensity of Hickam in attempting to negotiate an impossible narrative is indicative of just how detrimental, toxic and wasteful, the majority of social network interactions have become.
The concept of instant gratification, obviously knows no generation bounds, as the race to the stars is not as exciting or fulfilling, as putting a random anonymous Twitter user in their place.
Read the Fox News story here.
WATCH: The Ending To “October Sky”: