The last hurrah

by charvaka Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:39 am

Was listening to NPR's Morning Edition on my drive to work, and caught the live coverage of the final launch of the Space Shuttle. They played a few moments of their coverage of the first launch of Columbia in 1981, before going on to the NASA feed for the launch of Atlantis. Makes me sad to think that the US does not have a reentry-capable space vehicle, and won't have one for at least the whole of this decade.

by doofus_maximus Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:46 am

sad day indeed... kids growing up in this decade will be missing out. Hopefully some other country picks up slack.

by Guest Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:47 am

sad indeed. but why did they abandon the space-shuttle program? i know i can google.

by Guest Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:14 pm

The last (and the only time) that I went to NASA center in 1999 I vaguely remember seeing a model of literally sending a mini township up in space... Is that what I remember? Whatever happened of that?

by Hellsangel Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:17 pm

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:sad indeed. but why did they abandon the space-shuttle program? i know i can google.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/07/07/eitm.zarrella.shuttle.nasa.cnn?hpt=hp_t1

by charvaka Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:24 pm

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:why did they abandon the space-shuttle program?

Two of the five original shuttles had catastrophic failures. That created a sense of unreliability of these vehicles. Cost was another major concern; cost per kg placed in orbit is higher than with simpler rockets that don't have reentry capability. The program is focused on low-earth orbit, and it absorbed most available NASA resources, preventing it from doing cutting-edge science or even manned space flight -- the moon and Mars remain more distant for manned flight now than they were before the first Shuttle flew.

Tracy Whitney wrote:I vaguely remember seeing a model of literally sending a mini township
up in space... Is that what I remember? Whatever happened of that?

The closest we have come to that is the International Space Station.

by Kris Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:01 pm

The program is focused on low-earth orbit, and it absorbed most available NASA resources, preventing it from doing cutting-edge science or even manned space flight --

>>>> Krauthammer had made this point in one of his columns years ago i.e. if we are going to take the risk and put the resources behind it, why are we limiting himself to the low orbit stuff, rather than shoot for mars? I guess he was speaking literally and figuratively. Looks like we are not going to doing either for a long time. It is a sad day when America withdraws from exploration. Seems to go against the grain...damn!

by charvaka Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:31 pm

I still hope to see man on Mars before I die. I really, really hope that comes to pass. Without America taking the lead though, it's unlikely to happen. Perhaps the Chinese will aim for Mars by 2030 or so.

by Kris Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:50 pm

The Mars Pathfinder mission was one of the most thrilling for me in terms of space exploration. It showed vision, ingenuity and sheer boldness. Of late we don't seem to have those moments in this country anymore. I do hope there is a comeback. Strangely, all other things being equal, I see Indians have more of that spirit than the chinese. Of course, money is a huge prereq. I am still pinning my hopes on the US.

by Guest Sat Jul 09, 2011 4:19 am

Hellsangel wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:sad indeed. but why did they abandon the space-shuttle program? i know i can google.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/07/07/eitm.zarrella.shuttle.nasa.cnn?hpt=hp_t1

thanks! beautiful explanation.

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