Man, it seems like only [August 30th, 2008] ago that the Orlando Sentinel reported on a leaked, internal NASA E-Mail hinting about the possibility of extending the NASA Space Shuttle program until 2015. "We want to focus on helping bridge the gap of U.S. vehicles traveling to the ISS (International Space Station) as efficiently as possible," allegedly wrote John Coggeshall, manager of manifest and schedules at Johnson Space Center.

And here we are, barely into November, and we're hearing rumors about the possible expansion of yet another Shuttle program, namely, the Genz-Benz Shuttle lightweight bass heads.

Already doing swift and celebrated business with their 300 watt STL30 and 600 watt STL60 heads, Genz-Benz's future introduction of an even higher-wattage model seems like a no-brainer. Sure enough, Winter NAMM 2009 related whispers about a 1200 watt Shuttle have started floating around. While Genz-Benz has no confirmed details about the new Shuttle, word on the virtual street has it that the STL120 (speculation on the naming, there) will weight less than seven pounds.

Needless to say, this particular low-ender is more than a little excited about the prospect, having been very impressed with the tone and features of the other models in the STL-line. Suggestion to Genz-Benz: if you do show off a new Shuttle at the upcoming NAMM, why not make up some NASA-style mission patches to hand out? After all, early-90s retro-chic is the new early-80s retro-chic, and just look at how cool actual mission patches are:

Who's with me?