Editing space program

[[Image:Sbemail138.PNG|thumb|"A space myoot-ant from Satriani 5!"]]
'''Strong Bad Email #138'''

We learn of Strongbadia's space program: [[The Strong Badian Administration of Some Aluminum Foil|SBASAF]].

'''Cast (in order of appearance):''' {{Film|Strong Bad}}, {{Film|The Cheat}}, {{Film|Strong Mad}}, {{Film|Homestar Runner}}, {{Film|The King of Town}}, {{Film|Coach Z}} (Easter Egg)

'''Places:''' [[Computer Room]], [[Strongbadia]], [[The Classroom]] (Easter Egg)

{{Comp|Lappy 486}}

'''Date:''' November 14, 2005

'''Running Time:''' 3:44

== Transcript ==
'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{singing}'' Email is the sound that we make when a young girl cries...

<blockquote class="email"><div>subject: space program</div>
Dear Strongbad,<br />
Does Strongbadia have a space program?<br />
Doo doo crap,<br />
Ryan<br />
Raleigh, NC
</blockquote>

''{Strong Bad says "Da-da-da-da-" before "Dear," "Good jokes" instead of "Doo doo crap," "Ryan Raleigh" as one name, and "NC" as "Not Cool."}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{typing}'' Who ''doesn't'' have a space program these days? I mean, don't, like, the Italians have a space program? Ours is called SBASAF ''{pronounced "space-aff"}''. The Strong Badian Administration of Some Aluminum Foil. ''{clears screen}'' The only problem is, ...

''{Fade to white; Strong Bad continues in voiceover.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' ...we blew our whole budget on this kick-awesome logo...

''{As he says this, the SBASAF logo appears&mdash;a rocket's path tracing the second S, and ending up in position as the first A.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' ...and on our orientation filmstrip.

''{Cut to a filmstrip frame of the SBASAF logo, with "2005 Strong Badian Administration of Some Aluminum Foil" at the bottom.  The frame is initially out of focus, but becomes focused partway through the voiceover.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' SBASAF is a definitely-for-profit organization, dedicated to the manned taping of aluminum foil to cardboard. ''{beep sound}''

''{Another frame comes up - a stylized drawing of alien mountains in [[Outer Space|outer space]], with a [[The Moon|moon]] and a comet in the sky. A ten and five dollar note are visible, and a large arrow pointing beyond the mountains. The ten dollar bill has the text "TEN O' DEMS" along the top, the earth in the president's place and a circled "SB" for the seal. The five dollar bill is mostly obscured, but a sun and planet are visible on it.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' Our mission objective: to accompany 15 earth dollars on a round trip journey... ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: a drawing of a spaceship flying past a planet.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...to the closest reaches of space. ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: two astronauts, one lying on a bench with weights, the other saying "Gimme '''ONE''' more!!"}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' While the muscular crew will age only a few hours, the cargo, according to our... ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: a portrait of Albert Einstein, saying "Hiya!"}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...vague understanding of the theory of relativity, will have aged to an incredible... ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: three large gold bars in space, with the caption "THREE O' DEMS". The slide is initially above center, then is adjusted.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...one million dollars. And who is good enough at video games... 

''{Another frame: a photo of a TV screen with a joystick in front of it. On the screen is a typical 2-D one-on-one fighting game with "FIGHT!!!" written on it. The combatants are a hamburger and a ghost. The ghost has only 1/3 health.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...to accept such a dangerous mission? Why, none other than beef bouillon-aire joyboy... ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: Strong Bad wearing a headband with small wings on it, with pants made of foil.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...Space Captainface. First Lieuteneral Captainface knows the true key to success is... <!--{no beep}-->

''{Another frame: a girl smiling at the camera, with a polka-dot background.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...to have as many hot '60s-looking girls in your filmstrips as possible. 

''{Another frame: two more girls against a blue background with a wavy stripe.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' Yeah, girls! All right! ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: The Cheat wearing a blue cap and sunglasses, with the caption Harold "Strap" Coopmore.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' Hey, look! It's onboard mechanic Harold "Strap" Coopmore! Looks like he could use a grilled cheese sandwich. 

''{Another frame: a photo of a grilled cheese sandwich, with the caption Item 3b: "Grilled Cheese". Different music plays for a little bit, then, with a record-scratching noise, the previous music resumes and another frame is cued: two men with flat-top haircuts and headsets in front of a computer terminal. They're wearing horn-rimmed glasses and short-sleeved dress shirts; one has a pocket protector and several pens.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' Flat-tops and shirt sleeves are the order of the day at SBASAF mission control. Why, Flight Engineer Ted Averill! You aren't smoking a smooth relaxing cigarette at all! ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: the same scene, but the man on the left is smoking.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' That's better. And somebody get that man a highball. ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: rows of spaceships.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' The flagship of SBASAF's 30-vessel fleet is the Proud Anselmo.

''{Another frame: Strong Bad in the same outfit, atop a spaceship labelled "PROUD ANSELMO". There is a beam of golden light spotlighting Strong Bad.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' A wonder of modern SBASAF-ery, the Proud Anselmo is constructed almost entirely out of cardboardium alloy. When blastoff day finally arrives, 

''{Another frame: the '60s girls in silhouette with a large question mark.}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...will you be among the hot '60s-looking girls to wish Strap and Space Captainface a safe voyage? And if not... ''{beep}''

''{Another frame: a tearful hound dog with the caption "How Come?"}''

'''VOICEOVER:''' ...how come?

''{Cut to Strong Badia. A close-up of Strong Bad wearing his Space Captainface costume in a cardboard box holding an Atari joystick. He and the box are trembling violently.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' Argrgrgrgrgrgr! Got to... escape... Earth's... tenacity.... Fire the afterburners, Strap!

''{A wider shot shows that The Cheat is in a taller cardboard box duct-taped to Strong Bad's, and has a CD player. [[#Trivia|Various objects]] are duct-taped to the side of the box. We can now see Strong Mad's hand shaking the boxes.}''

'''THE CHEAT:''' ''{strained The Cheat noises}''

''{The Cheat presses play on the CD Player, which plays a sci-fi flyby sound effect. Cut back to Strong Bad. The box lifts into the air temporarily and lands on the ground.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' Oh... we made it. ''{the boxes continue shaking}'' Ahem. ''Oh, we made it.'' ''{the boxes stop shaking}''

'''STRONG MAD:''' Awww...

'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{holding a Speak & Spell}'' According to my ca-cuh-lations, our precious cargo should have already multiplied to about 50 bucks!

''{Strong Mad walks away behind the fence and sits down, looking dejected.}''

'''THE CHEAT:''' ''{holding up a CD labeled "SOUND F/X (not sounds from that movie F/X)"} {The Cheat noises}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' Oh, right. We spent the precious cargo on that sound effect CD. Well, let me hear "Body falling down stairs".

'''THE CHEAT:''' ''{agreeable-sounding The Cheat noises}'' ''{presses button on CD player}''

''{The sound effect of what sounds like a body falling down a staircase plays. Strong Bad moves his head with each thump. Homestar Runner rushes up with a sweater stuck over his head.}''

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' You guys! You guys! I need help putting on this sweater!

'''STRONG BAD:''' A space myoot-ant from Satriani 5! Hit him with everything we got, Strap!

''{The Cheat pushes various buttons, and random laser sounds and explosions are played. After a pause, The Cheat throws the CD case at Homestar.}''

'''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' Aah! I knew I should have asked the Italian space program. ''{hobbles off}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' Nice work, The Strap. Another successful mission for ''{music starts; singing}'' Space Captainface!

''{A piece of cardboard labelled SPACE CAPTAINFACE is lowered on a fishing hook above Strong Bad}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{still singing}'' Pretender of the galaxies! He's all-the-ways having space cocktails with hot '60s-looking girls!

''{Cut to wide shot; we see that The Cheat is holding a fishing rod with the SPACE CAPTAINFACE logo hanging from it.}''

'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{although the first few words are almost spoken, concludes singing an octave higher}'' Where are all the hot '60s-looking girls? ''{music stops}''

''{The King of Town enters from the left.}''

'''THE KING OF TOWN:''' I'm in my 60s!

''{[[The Paper]] comes down.}''

== Easter Eggs ==
*At the end, click "S. CAPTAINFACE" on the boxflap to the side of Strong Bad to hear a log entry.
:''{Strong Bad is at the Lappy}''
:'''STRONG BAD:''' ''{typing}'' Captainface Log: The vinegar-baking soda drive on the Proud Anselmo has run out of fuel, stranding us in the Impellitteri Sector. There is shrapnel everywhere. It makes one wonder, does man truly ''{beep}''
:''{The slide of Item 3b: "Grilled Cheese" comes into frame from the bottom and stays a few seconds, accompanied by its music from the filmstrip.}''
*At the end, click the [[Tire]] to see Cadet Z at recruitment.
:''{The last two slides of the slideshow play again. Coach Z's arm enters frame from the bottom}''
:'''COACH Z:''' I was told I was gonna get to pee in a cup!
:''{Pull back to see Coach Z watching Strong Bad next to a projection screen}''
:'''STRONG BAD:''' In due time, Cadet Z. In due time.
:'''COACH Z:''' Oh, doo time! Even better.
:''{Strong Bad looks slightly shocked}''
*At the end, click the CD to see the back cover
 SOUND F/X are not a joke!
 featuring such favorite hits as:
 - baby in a wagon
 - drippy towel
 - single bird tweet
 - the hush of winter
 - baseball in repose
 - body falling downstairs
 - sonar ping
 - creaking rustiness
 - sonar pong
 - rub sequence              00003 or 2
:On the side of the case is the text ''Sound F/X (not sounds from that movie F/X)''.

==Fun Facts==

===Explanations===
*The beeps in the filmstrip are common when a presenter is given a set of slides and a tape - so the presenter knows when to change the slides. Also, some combined tape player/projector models advance automatically upon detecting the beep.
*The "vague understanding of the theory of relativity" is a major misunderstanding of [[Wikipedia:Special relativity|Special relativity]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:twins paradox|twins paradox]].
*A [[Wikipedia:Sonar|Sonar]] ping is a method used to determine distance from one object to another, like two submarines.  One will send out a low level "ping" that travels at a set speed through water, "bounces" off the other submarine, and is re-recieved by the first's sonar system.  The amount of time this takes determines the distance.
**There is no Sonar "pong" - the reflection of the ping is called a return.  The term "pong" is often incorrectly used due to confusion with the game [[Wikipedia:Ping Pong|Ping Pong]].
**You can hear an example of a Sonar ping near the end of [[dreamail]].
*SBASAF's "definitely-for-profit" status is a reference to [[Wikipedia:Non-profit organization|non-profit organizations]].
*Although it makes sense as constructed, Strong Bad's reference to "escap[ing]... Earth's... tenacity" appears to be a [[Wikipedia:Malapropism|malapropism]] for the phenomenon of [[Wikipedia:Escape velocity|escape velocity]].
*A [http://m-w.com/dictionary/highball highball] is an iced drink containing liquor (as whiskey) and water or a carbonated beverage and served in a tall glass.
*An [[Wikipedia:Alloy|alloy]] is a combination of two or more elements that includes at least two metals and has metallic properties.
*The phrase "smooth and relaxing cigarette", like most of the SBASAF slide show, comes directly from the '50s and '60s TV culture.  [[The Cheat's smoking|Cigarettes]] were "in" during this period, so advertisers primarily targeted men in their 20s and 30s, often trying to make non-smokers seem uncool.
*Mixing vinegar and baking soda together causes a chemical reaction that, in some instances, can be strong enough to propel objects forward.

===Trivia===
*The various things and text adorning Strong Bad's spaceship are from left to right:
**[[Duct Tape]]
**A [[Van Buren]] bust
**An [[ABA Basketball]]
**Used paper towel rolls
**An [[Atari 2600]] joystick
**The [[Strongbadia|Strongbadian]] national flag/emblem
**A/C ductwork
**''"the proud anselmo"''
**''1ST LTNRL. S. CAPTAINFACE''
**Aluminum foil
**Upside down ''THIS WAYS''
**''"STRAP" COOPMORE''
**An empty milk carton
*This email was sent by [http://www.gogglemarks.net/ Ryan Sturmer], though several parts of his [http://static.flickr.com/32/63362276_e72bcf6cc6_o.png original email] were cut out. The original version was:
<blockquote class="email"><div>subject: Space Program</div>
Dear Strongbad,<br /><br />
Does Strongbadia have a space program? Certainly your terrestrial resources will be depleted at some point: What plans do you have for emergency migration to other worlds?<br /><br />
Crapfully DooDooCrap,<br /><br />
Ryan<br />
Raleigh, NC
</blockquote>
[[Image:Television Reflection.JPG|thumb|We see you!]]
*If you use a decompiler to get the original picture used on the video game scene, you can see the reflection in the screen, showing one of [[The Brothers Chaps]] taking the screenshot, with someone else in the background.
*This is the first time we learn of the [[King of Town|King of Town's]] age, as he claims that he is in his 60s.

===Remarks===
*As of this cartoon's release, only the [[Wikipedia:United States of America|USA]], [[Wikipedia:Russia|Russia]], and [[Wikipedia:China|China]] have [[Wikipedia:Human spaceflight|manned space programs]]. [[Wikipedia:Italy|Italy]] is a member of the [[Wikipedia:European Space Agency|European Space Agency]].
*Homestar's difficulty with his sweater's sleeves is ironic because he [[Lack of Visible Arms|has no visible arms]].
*In the old-fashioned video game shown on the TV, the player on the left is titled "Hamburger" even though it has a large layer of cheese in it which would technically make it a cheeseburger.
*The [[Tire]] wears a corded headset and is smoking a cigarette.  Thus it appears to be the only acting member of Mission Control.
*"Track 03" is displayed on the CD player for the afterburner sound as well as for one of the laser sounds.
*An [[Wikipedia:afterburner|afterburner]] cannot be fitted to a rocket.

===Inside References===
*Strong Bad receives yet another email signed with the word [[Crapfully Yours|crap]].
*The soundtrack to the filmstrip is built around the theme that plays when you roll over Store and Downloads on [[Main Page 19]] (with much longer notes, and transposed from G to C).
*In [[Halloween Fairstival]], Coach Z attempted to use a drippy towel to scare the hiccups out of The Cheat.

===Real-World References===
*The S. CAPTAINFACE log is similar to the ones that occur at the beginning of many [[Wikipedia:Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]] episodes. The original Star Trek series also included philosophical musings on whether man belonged in space, which may be the sentiment interrupted by the grilled cheese sandwich slide.
* The narrator's comments about shirt-sleeves and flattops being the order of the day is a good description of late '60s early '70s [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/images/pao/AS11/10075291.jpg Mission Control].
*[[Wikipedia:Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein]] was a twentieth century theoretical physicist, most famous for his [[Wikipedia:Theory of relativity|theory of relativity]].
*Harold "Strap" Coopmore is possibly a reference to U.S. Air Force General [[Wikipedia:Henry H. Arnold|Henry "Hap" Arnold]] who served on the committee that would become [[Wikipedia:NASA|NASA]].
*The Proud Anselmo, Satriani 5 and the Impellitteri Sector all refer to famous rock musicians &mdash; [[Wikipedia:Phil Anselmo|Phil Anselmo]], [[Wikipedia:Joe Satriani|Joe Satriani]] and [http://www.rapture.net/impellitteri/ Chris Impellitteri], respectively. Also note Satriani's late 80's album, ''Surfing with the Alien''.
**The "Proud Anselmo" is also likely a reference to [http://www.space.com/news/space_news_100-1.html Rene Anselmo], the driven creator of the commercial satellite industry.
*Strong Bad's pronunciation of "mutant" is most likely a reference to the classic science-fiction film ''[[Wikipedia:This Island Earth|This Island Earth]]'' (featured in ''[[Wikipedia:Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie|Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie]]''), where an alien "mut-ant" figures in the climax.
*[[Wikipedia:F/X|F/X]] is a movie from 1986 starring [[Wikipedia:Bryan Brown|Bryan Brown]] and [[Wikipedia:Brian Dennehy|Brian Dennehy]].  The movie is about a special effects technician who is hired by a government agency to help stage the assassination of a well-known gangster. It was later turned into a TV spinoff.
*The joystick next to the TV is the standard [[Wikipedia:Colecovision|Colecovision]] joypad, known as the "doorknob" due to the control stick's distinctive and somewhat uncomfortable shape.
*Strong Bad's "Space Captainface" costume includes a [[Wikipedia:petasus|petasus]], the winged hat that is characteristically worn by the Greek god [[Wikipedia:Hermes|Hermes]].
**Hermes is also known as [[Wikipedia:Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]], which was the name given to the [[Wikipedia:Project_Mercury|first American manned space project]].
*Strong Bad checks his "ca-cuh-lations" on a [[Wikipedia:Speak & Spell (game)|Speak & Spell]]. This educational toy also formed part of the [[Grape-Nuts Robot]].

==External Links==
*[[HR:sbemail138.html|watch "space program"]]
*[[HR:sbemail138.swf|view the Flash file for "space program"]]
*[[Forum:5939|forum thread re: space program]]

{{Strong Bad Email}}