Posted on 02/04/2007 6:25:00 AM PST by Vote 4 Nixon
The 17th-century metal worker who prepared a tag to mark cargo heading for the New World could have never imagined that his craftsmanship would eventually be leaving the planet.
Upon completion of its journey however, his small metal marker etched with the name of its destination, "Yames Towne" will have logged more than four million miles over four centuries, traveling from England to the early American settlement and then, 400 years later, on a round trip to the International Space Station (ISS) [image].
NASA is flying the tag, along with four commemorative coins to honor early American explorers. They will be onboard space shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-117, targeted for launch in March [image].
The metal cargo tag was unearthed this past summer at Jamestown, the location of the first permanent English settlement in the Americas in 1607. The colonial version of a modern-day luggage tag, the plaque was probably marking some merchandise that had been warehoused in London before being shipped, according to the Historic Jamestowne website.
"The odd 'Y' spelling may suggest a German or Dutch origin for the goods as those languages represented 'j's with 'y's during this time period," the site reports.
It was found at the bottom of a well at the site of James Fort on Jamestown Island. The tag, attached to a crate or trunk, most likely arrived from England around 1611.
"This artifact clearly marks Jamestown as a destination — our nation's first 'address.' It demonstrates the development of trade patterns crucial to the survival of the colony," said William Kelso with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Yohn: "Ye know, Yames, one of these days this tag will leave the planet."
Yames: "Bulllllllll-shit!"
In that case they need to calculate the number of miles the Earth has circled the Sun during its stay at the bottom of the well and add that to the total.
Who are the "early American explorers?" How PC did that selection get?
Yeah, cool but decent. Now if we can put one of these things on the moon....
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