3 shuttle missions remain, your thoughts?

[M-technik-3]

Shame but the company that had been manufacturing the center fuel tanks stopped years ago.

So the ISS will be supported by the Soyuz till the new remote orbiter is ready.

[Midnight Sun]

Mixed feelings. Sort the same way I felt when the Concorde was retired.

Just look at all the advancements in just 60 years of flight. We went from fabric and wood to supersonic, and we still had room for improvement. Now we are at the beginning stages of the 21st century, just a little over 100 years since the Wright Brothers and we are doing things like retiring the space shuttle before a replacement is ready and ending supersonic passenger travel with no replacement in sight.

I know we are in the beginning stages of "Space Tourism" (Richard Branson especially) and that budgets are a huge factor in what continues and what dies off, but I think the western world has become a little jaded when it comes to flight.

Sort of like the scene from Apollo 13 when they were talking about how people thought going to the moon was boring.

I wish we had the same drive for flight and advancement as a nation/people that we did 50 years ago than we do now. I think people just figure we are at the pinnacle and there isnt much more. They want their Dreamliners and wifi on airplanes and they are happy.

Personally, I wont be happy until that 90 minute hypersonic flight from New York to LA becomes reality.


That is my little rant... From a guy who was so obsessed with Space Shuttles my parents skipped a day of Disney World to take me to Cape Canaveral. (To the dismay of my sisters)

[mrsleeve]

Its bull shit. We should continue flying the dam thing till a replacement is ready. AND PUT some dam money into developing its replacement. Space travel and exploration is what NASA is here for, NOT THE GOVT PRIVATE CLIMATE RESEARCH ARM. Yes folks that is NASA's new primary mission is to study climate change.

41 years ago we had men on the moon, could we do that again today NO. we put men on the moon with computers on board with less computing power than your graphing calculator. We have been losing our edge for decades and its time to get it back. Fly the dam shuttle till the replacement come on line and make that replacement a priority

[M-technik-3]

They would but there are no center Liquid tanks available.

[mrsleeve]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

there are plenty of tank builders in this country and abroad.

Call them up and get hot to trot, and put a few on rush order, get them building.

Ok so we are down for a while(8-12 months to let the guys gear up and build some tanks), that I can understand. Really how hard is to order a tank??? I work around tank fabrication every now and again it can be done, SO DO IT.

[Mossman]

41 years ago we had men on the moon, could we do that again today NO.

I've heard this many times but if it isn't complete and utter bullshit then all of the conspiracy theories about them staging the moon landing are true (Do i believe that, definitely not, but if A is true then so is B is what I'm saying ) Could we go to the moon tomorrow, obviously no but if they wanted to in 6 months I'm sure they could. If we can land on mars we can probably pick a grater on the moon and the astronaut could shit out a hatch on the way down and they can make it land in the crater.

[E30Kaiser]

I've heard this many times but if it isn't complete and utter bullshit then all of the conspiracy theories about them staging the moon landing are true (Do i believe that, definitely not, but if A is true then so is B is what I'm saying ) Could we go to the moon tomorrow, obviously no but if they wanted to in 6 months I'm sure they could. If we can land on mars we can probably pick a grater on the moon and the astronaut could shit out a hatch on the way down and they can make it land in the crater.

What are we going to land on the Moon with? We don't have a space craft to do it with, and you don't develop those in 6 months on a shitty budget. Hopefully Space-X's private option is ready soon.

[dvs909]

Is Nasa cost effective?
do the benefits outweigh the cost?

My parents are invested in a company that expands your own cells in a zero gravity environment that is a alternative to stem cells from fetus' and the method was developed in space....... But are their more advances going on that can compensate for the high cost?

just curious, i just dont get to hear much about the direct positive effects from nasa, and am curious if its worth the taxpayer money we spend on it.

[E30Kaiser]

Is Nasa cost effective?
do the benefits outweigh the cost?

My parents are invested in a company that expands your own cells in a zero gravity environment that is a alternative to stem cells from fetus' and the method was developed in space....... But are their more advances going on that can compensate for the high cost?

just curious, i just dont get to hear much about the direct positive effects from nasa, and am curious if its worth the taxpayer money we spend on it.

If you have ever opened a science book then you will see the direct positive effects from NASA. Our understanding of Astronomy has accelerated much faster than any other of the major sciences over the past few decades, due in large part to NASA and things like Hubble.

[mrsleeve]

've heard this many times but if it isn't complete and utter bullshit then all of the conspiracy theories about them staging the moon landing are true (Do i believe that, definitely not, but if A is true then so is B is what I'm saying ) Could we go to the moon tomorrow, obviously no but if they wanted to in 6 months I'm sure they could. If we can land on mars we can probably pick a grater on the moon and the astronaut could shit out a hatch on the way down and they can make it land in the crater.

No man it would take years and years and years and years to gear up for another maned moon mission. Yes we have done it before balh blah blah. But all new tech would have to be developed and tested. All new gear and train the astronauts for years to get them ready for such a mission again.

Its not only a huge technological challenge, basically starting from scratch again but a HUGE logistical challenge and with the current budget crunch and the push to PROVE man made GW/CC with NASA we will be lucky to see manned space flight to other bodies in our solar system in the next 40 years.

There is little to no support for NASA in the public's eye, many think its a huge waste of money better spent by giving it to the less fortunate which is an even bigger waste. When it comes to this there is little in Political gain (other than the GW/CC crap hence why thats the new primary mission) or public support so NASA will not receive the funding to do anything like a manned moon or mars mission till there is.

Sorry to graze the realm of Political agenda in the wrong sub form but its just how is.

[dvs909]

If you have ever opened a science book then you will see the direct positive effects from NASA. Our understanding of Astronomy has accelerated much faster than any other of the major sciences over the past few decades, due in large part to NASA and things like Hubble.

any positive aspects that help humanity. knowledge of the cosmos is cool and everything but i don't see the positive for knowing where some stars are. im really not into that kind of science.

i'm not trying to be dismissive.

edit: http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/benefits.html
guess they do.

[mrsleeve]

any positive aspects that help humanity. knowledge of the cosmos is cool and everything but i don't see the positive for knowing where some stars are. im really not into that kind of science.

i'm not trying to be dismissive.

.

you kidding right

[Midnight Sun]

any positive aspects that help humanity. knowledge of the cosmos is cool and everything but i don't see the positive for knowing where some stars are. im really not into that kind of science.

i'm not trying to be dismissive.

edit: http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/benefits.html
guess they do.

It is best to think of ALL science being interconnected instead of just some fields. Robots get developed here, math equations get solved there, hypothesis are proposed over there. Before you know it some guy who had an idea about a new lens on a telescope has morphed into a revolutionary vision correcting surgery.

[Dozyproductions]

1) I'm really ticked.
2) I can't believe bama just let the shuttle program go.

I've always thought (especially when I was younger) that whatever helps us achieve a world more like what we see in the Star Trek universe would be a good thing. These days we're more interested in building the better bomb than exploring our last and greatest frontier. I was hoping that when I die I would be hearing about plans to terraform mars into a 'class M planet'.

[Ral]

so the crowning achievement of the cold war (space exploration) is now being serviced by the Russians?