Atlantis on the way to orbit.

Yep, my 79 year old Dad's home crying his eyes out and I'm doing the same at work. Dad and his team programmed the software for the Apollo and Gemini launches, so the space program has been a big part of his and our lives.

It's truly a sad day for all involved in the space programs.
 
I try to look on the bright side. We needed to end the shuttle program to make way for bigger and beter things in the future. Today, we should only feel proud of our shuttle fleet and it's acheivments.

It’s true the budget was cut out from under Orion, but I understand some of those cuts have already been reversed.

America will not stand by while other nations take the lead and do our work for us. We will see a return to space; if not by NASA, then by the private sector.

I feel that the next few years will be very exciting for manned spaceflight in America. A return to the moon? A mission to an asteroid? MARS!? Who knows what we will see start to develop?

Americans will return to space under our own power, and continue our tradition of scientific achievement there.
 
Farewell. Let's think of something better to replace the shuttle with. It clearly wasn't all that and now the technology is over forty years old.

I remember that in the UK we had a space programme that was being planned called HOTOL. It was scrapped as too expensive or something but it seemed like a far more efficient idea.

Most things that actually roll off the production line, and this may well apply more to government-funded and produced projects than private ones, tend to be hugely more expensive than expected and tend to involve people who shouldn't be involved at all.

Then again, for private enterprise there is often simply no incentive for building, say, space stations.
 
Wish I could have be there to see the launch. Those old workhorses will be missed.
 
caniswalensis said:
America will not stand by while other nations take the lead and do our work for us. We will see a return to space; if not by NASA, then by the private sector.

I feel that the next few years will be very exciting for manned spaceflight in America. A return to the moon? A mission to an asteroid? MARS!? Who knows what we will see start to develop?

Americans will return to space under our own power, and continue our tradition of scientific achievement there.
Click to expand...

Well if NASA is to be believed, the termination of the shuttle program moves NASA away from glorified truck drivers and back to its core mission of pushing the boundaries of space and technology

With at least three companys seriously exploring space tourism I think low Earth orbit will quickly become as accessable to us as a flight to Australia
 
MG1962 said:
Well if NASA is to be believed, the termination of the shuttle program moves NASA away from glorified truck drivers and back to its core mission of pushing the boundaries of space and technology

With at least three companys seriously exploring space tourism I think low Earth orbit will quickly become as accessable to us as a flight to Australia
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed!! :)

Watch out for space-dingos, though! ;)
 
Knowing this was the end of an era and hoping nothing bad happens, I was pacing the floor trying to watch the lift off. I was so relieved to see the shuttle entered the orbit. It was the longest ten minutes of my life.

H Mom
 
I demand a do-over! I only got one quick glance of Atlantis, through a tiny break in the clouds.

Ikudo buji modoru!
 
Atlantis on the way to orbit

Oh the shuttle craft!

For a moment I thought the elders had engaged the null-metal before the alignment.
 
MG1962 said:
With at least three companys seriously exploring space tourism I think low Earth orbit will quickly become as accessable to us as a flight to Australia
Click to expand...

Except people might want to visit space.

I'm kidding. Obviously it's a featureless void where no life can survive, but i hear the beaches are nice and they have large beers.
 
Personally I'm rooting for the Chinese to start getting in to space in a big way, then the U.S. government will suddenly find money to fund NASA again. Nothing like a little nationalistic posturing to advance human discovery. A little border skirmish or 2 and we might get to Mars.
 
With at least three companys seriously exploring space tourism I think low Earth orbit will quickly become as accessable to us as a flight to Australia
Click to expand...
Though hopefully less dangerous.
 
Jekyll's Guest said:
Personally I'm rooting for the Chinese to start getting in to space in a big way, then the U.S. government will suddenly find money to fund NASA again. Nothing like a little nationalistic posturing to advance human discovery. A little border skirmish or 2 and we might get to Mars.
Click to expand...

I have been thinking about that possibility too. On a selfish, purile level, I think it would be a hoot to see a second space race between the the good guys and the dreaded commies! hopefully, it would be a little bit friendlier this time. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom