3 ms·

NASA Face in Space

12 points by inmygarage 16y ago

sliverstorm 16y ago
I can hardly believe NASA is going to become a relic...
- ggchappell 16y ago
  I believe the plan is to retire the space shuttle, not all of NASA.
  - hartror 16y ago
    But retiring their human space flight is almost as bad. I love our robot probes to death, they do important science at a fraction of a fraction of the cost it would take humans to do the same. However right now all of our proverbial eggs are on this tiny spit of sand, unable to escape. We need to build on the advances in human space flight that were made last century if we are to ensure our survival in the medium term in this cosmos. Talking with my father, he hopes to see humans return to the Moon and then onwards to Mars in his life time. At this rate I am doubtful if it will be accomplished in my lifetime. Though if we made a concerted effort we could put someone on Mars within a decade, at least that is my believe given our current technology and our previous Moon program. Though a long term sustainable program is far more desirable.
    - coderdude 16y ago
      If indeed they do it will just open up the stage for more commercial spaceflight endeavors to take its place. Private industry works faster and cheaper than NASA could ever hope to. Try to see the silver lining.
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      They are not retiring all of human spaceflight - they are mothballing what's left of the shuttle fleet. Human spaceflight can continue with Soyuz for now and with SpaceX if and when they are ready. The Dragon can also ride a Delta. Also, the Orion was not canned, AFAIK, so, it too can ride a Delta IV to LEO, as soon as Delta IV's get man-rated. As for the freight capacity, a Delta IV Heavy can carry as heavy a payload as a shuttle (not sure about dimensions), so, there is no loss of capability. A shuttle is a 100 ton vehicle with 30 ton payload. That's 70 more than you need. If we are to escape Earth, we need something much better than chemical rockets. We may need them to reach LEO, but, from then on, we need to perfect more efficient ways to move. The shuttle is a dead end. We need modular systems that can be assembled in varied ways to suit a given mission profile. The shuttle is perfect for one thing and one thing only - to bring truck-sized payloads back from LEO. For all other uses, it is much more expensive than its competition and the only thing that kept it in operation was an absurd determination that prevented development of other vehicles. Don't get me wrong - it's a beautiful machine, but it should never be the only system available, for it is unsuitable for just about every real usage.
Groxx 16y ago
"Select the Participate button at the bottom of this page and upload your image/name, which will be flown aboard the space shuttle." What... as binary data in a USB drive? Or is some poor intern going to print out all these, put them onto the cart with the wobbly 3rd wheel (the fourth already fell off) and dump them into the shuttle? This seems like a bad publicity stunt...

NASA Face in Space

12 points by inmygarage 16y ago

sliverstorm 16y ago

I can hardly believe NASA is going to become a relic...

ggchappell 16y ago
I believe the plan is to retire the space shuttle, not all of NASA.
- hartror 16y ago
  But retiring their human space flight is almost as bad. I love our robot probes to death, they do important science at a fraction of a fraction of the cost it would take humans to do the same. However right now all of our proverbial eggs are on this tiny spit of sand, unable to escape. We need to build on the advances in human space flight that were made last century if we are to ensure our survival in the medium term in this cosmos. Talking with my father, he hopes to see humans return to the Moon and then onwards to Mars in his life time. At this rate I am doubtful if it will be accomplished in my lifetime. Though if we made a concerted effort we could put someone on Mars within a decade, at least that is my believe given our current technology and our previous Moon program. Though a long term sustainable program is far more desirable.
  - coderdude 16y ago
    If indeed they do it will just open up the stage for more commercial spaceflight endeavors to take its place. Private industry works faster and cheaper than NASA could ever hope to. Try to see the silver lining.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    They are not retiring all of human spaceflight - they are mothballing what's left of the shuttle fleet. Human spaceflight can continue with Soyuz for now and with SpaceX if and when they are ready. The Dragon can also ride a Delta. Also, the Orion was not canned, AFAIK, so, it too can ride a Delta IV to LEO, as soon as Delta IV's get man-rated. As for the freight capacity, a Delta IV Heavy can carry as heavy a payload as a shuttle (not sure about dimensions), so, there is no loss of capability. A shuttle is a 100 ton vehicle with 30 ton payload. That's 70 more than you need. If we are to escape Earth, we need something much better than chemical rockets. We may need them to reach LEO, but, from then on, we need to perfect more efficient ways to move. The shuttle is a dead end. We need modular systems that can be assembled in varied ways to suit a given mission profile. The shuttle is perfect for one thing and one thing only - to bring truck-sized payloads back from LEO. For all other uses, it is much more expensive than its competition and the only thing that kept it in operation was an absurd determination that prevented development of other vehicles. Don't get me wrong - it's a beautiful machine, but it should never be the only system available, for it is unsuitable for just about every real usage.

Groxx 16y ago

"Select the Participate button at the bottom of this page and upload your image/name, which will be flown aboard the space shuttle." What... as binary data in a USB drive? Or is some poor intern going to print out all these, put them onto the cart with the wobbly 3rd wheel (the fourth already fell off) and dump them into the shuttle? This seems like a bad publicity stunt...