# The Old Negro Space Program **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585 "2005-03-28T08:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/1 "2005-03-28T08:07:53Z")
Stories don’t get much sadder than this. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/2 "2005-03-28T08:59:42Z")
I wiped away a tear after hearing the tale of those brave brave boys… err, men. ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/3 "2005-03-28T09:02:59Z")
“Space is one cold mother f#cker.” ---
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/4 "2005-03-28T16:52:15Z")
this is one of the greatest things since “tokyo breakfast”! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/5 "2005-03-29T03:33:04Z")
I simply don’t have the bandwidth to download video. Can someone give me a summary. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/6 "2005-03-29T04:17:55Z")
You really have to see it to appreciate it, Lumpy, but basically it’s a parody of a Ken Burns’ style documentary on the Negro Baseball Leagues except with astronauts instead of baseball players. Doctored photos are shown and former “blackstronauts” do voiceover interviews about their days in NASSA (the Negro American Space Society Astronauts). They nailed the style and it’s pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/7 "2005-03-29T04:19:14Z")
Shouldn’t they be Afronauts? ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/8 "2005-03-29T04:35:18Z")
It was a different time, you understand… ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/9 "2005-03-29T04:37:49Z")
What’s the deal with the professor who uses two different words to refer to everything? Do the Ken Burns documentaries have a lot of this kind of thing? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/10 "2005-03-29T05:07:16Z")
I admit that when I saw the original “letter home” scene that they’re riffing on in Ken Burns’s Civil War doc, I was crying like a baby. I had tears in my eyes this time, too, but for a totally different reason. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/11 "2005-03-29T07:36:08Z")
Priceless! ::: Wipes tears of laughter from eyes::: ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/12 "2005-03-29T21:04:41Z")
And here I thought the thread was going to be about [these guys.](http://timstvshowcase.com/homeboys.html) ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/13 "2005-03-29T21:11:12Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > And here I thought the thread was going to be about [these guys.](http://timstvshowcase.com/homeboys.html) WOW! I can’t believe UPN isn’t doing better. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/14 "2005-03-29T22:27:45Z")
> [@bclouse](#): > > WOW! I can’t believe UPN isn’t doing better. I _can’t tell you_ how many things are wrong with that sentence. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/15 "2005-03-29T23:06:24Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > I _can’t tell you_ how many things are wrong with that sentence. :rolleyes: I was sorta joking. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/16 "2005-03-29T23:26:34Z")
Holy Cow that was hilarious. Thanks bclouse! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-negro-space-program/296585/17 "2005-03-30T04:43:10Z")
"I told her I was a member of the Negro American Space Society of Astronauts. Got laid that very night." Which, let’s face it, is the only reason anyone becomes an astronaut.