Via the IU News Room:
The Indiana University band played a special wakeup call for NASA’s Discovery space shuttle Tuesday morning (Sept. 1, 2009).
STS-128 Pilot Kevin Ford, a NASA pilot since 2000 who embarked upon his first space mission as pilot yesterday, requested that Houston play “Indiana, Our Indiana,” in honor of his late brother, David C. Ford, an IU alumnus and former state senator. The astronauts were preparing for the first of three space walks planned for the mission, which will include the removal of a depleted amonia tank for return, installation of the new tank assembly and retrieval of a materials processing experiment outside the European Space Agency’s Columbus module.
Indiana, our Indiana, Indiana we’re all for you.
And here I thought it was because most people in Indiana are ND FB and IU BB fans.
I am disappointed there are no reversible jackets in space.
Hmm.. I do think you forget a couple of important points folks.
1) There is a pretty susbstantial land-grant school with the most developed research park in Indiana, which fields both decent Basketball AND Football teams – so you don’t have to split your loyalties….
2) Only the Air Force has produced more astronauts in the history of the space program….
Hail, Hail to Old Purdue…. BOILER UP!!
Yet, despite all those accomplishments, said university’s fans get their dander up in a thread about an astronaut’s touching tribute to his late brother. Fortunately, I have degrees from Indiana’s two finest major universities, and I’m proud to support both of them in football and basketball, so I’ll have to decline the tantalizing offer to support those “decent” programs at Tippecanoe County A&M.
Fortunately, the fair weather types don’t have to make a choice this year: they can watch IU tonight on the Big Ten Network and ND on Saturday.
this “week,” I should say.