4 ms·

On the one hand it’s amazing what private companies, especially SpaceX have been doing in the vacuum created after the end of the Space Shuttle. On the other ha

by gdubs 7y ago

On the one hand it’s amazing what private companies, especially SpaceX have been doing in the vacuum created after the end of the Space Shuttle. On the other hand, it kinda bums me out that I grew up knowing we had this very public space minivan and now we don’t. Or at least what we now have is a secret military craft. But yes, the ISS is awesome, there’s still great stuff happening in space exploration. But I do miss the space minivan.

walrus01 7y ago
I really don't feel sorry that the shuttle is gone, over the lifetime of the program including all costs, it cost $1 billion per launch. The 1970s dream of an affordable, reliable, speedily re-usable spacecraft was not achieved. It's good that it's gone.
- wongarsu 7y ago
  Also it was the most deadly launch system ever created, killing on average one astronaut for every ten launches. The combination of needing human crew for every single mission and not having an launch escape system (something basically every other rocket had) wasn't a great compromise.
  - walrus01 7y ago
    Of course I knew about both Challenger and Columbia, but I wasn't sure on the total number of flights... Two quick google searches say 135 flights and 14 fatalities, which statistically is quite bad. All of the fatalities related to Soyuz flights were, if I recall correctly, with very early versions that were rushed to launch by arbitrary soviet political deadlines.
natechols 7y ago
The shuttle was only "public" in the sense that the public was paying for it and got to watch the fun on TV - it was not, however, available to the public in any meaningful sense. The fact that NASA occasionally took a schoolteacher or scientist or Saudi prince along for the ride does not change the fact that space travel remained a fantasy for most of us throughout the entire lifetime of the shuttle program. I grew up in the 80s and 90s (in the US) and I was never under the illusion that the shuttle was open to me, personally. The only way the "public" will ever get to visit space is if the cost of launches is reduced, which is something that governments have been almost universally terrible at.

by gdubs 7y ago

walrus01 7y ago

I really don't feel sorry that the shuttle is gone, over the lifetime of the program including all costs, it cost $1 billion per launch. The 1970s dream of an affordable, reliable, speedily re-usable spacecraft was not achieved. It's good that it's gone.

wongarsu 7y ago
Also it was the most deadly launch system ever created, killing on average one astronaut for every ten launches. The combination of needing human crew for every single mission and not having an launch escape system (something basically every other rocket had) wasn't a great compromise.
- walrus01 7y ago
  Of course I knew about both Challenger and Columbia, but I wasn't sure on the total number of flights... Two quick google searches say 135 flights and 14 fatalities, which statistically is quite bad. All of the fatalities related to Soyuz flights were, if I recall correctly, with very early versions that were rushed to launch by arbitrary soviet political deadlines.

natechols 7y ago

The shuttle was only "public" in the sense that the public was paying for it and got to watch the fun on TV - it was not, however, available to the public in any meaningful sense. The fact that NASA occasionally took a schoolteacher or scientist or Saudi prince along for the ride does not change the fact that space travel remained a fantasy for most of us throughout the entire lifetime of the shuttle program. I grew up in the 80s and 90s (in the US) and I was never under the illusion that the shuttle was open to me, personally. The only way the "public" will ever get to visit space is if the cost of launches is reduced, which is something that governments have been almost universally terrible at.