Beautiful on Many Levels

(Photo from NASA/YouTube video)

Tuesday's splashdown was beautiful on several levels.

The esthetic beauty of the capsule being framed against a bright blue sky and deep blue ocean, surrounded by four symmetrically arranged orange-and-white parachutes;

The epistemic beauty of American technology that gave stranded astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams a ride home; and

The empathic beauty of the safe return of two people from a parlous situation.

It'a a relief to celebrate a happy event while keeping politics mostly (but not completely, sadly) out of it.