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Ah, that's the "no Buck Rogers, no bucks" school of thought -- which, actually, I agree with. There are several reasons why humans in space are a good and neces

by nkoren 15y ago

Ah, that's the "no Buck Rogers, no bucks" school of thought -- which, actually, I agree with. There are several reasons why humans in space are a good and necessary thing, but as you say, people just need to relate back to the human experience in order to get excited enough to fund the thing. The error you/NASA made is in believing that this excitement came from the shuttle program itself. No, it came from having humans in space, and the shuttle just happened to be the only way for Americans to do that. This doesn't mean that the excitement ever came from the shuttle. Commercial vehicles such as the CST-100, Dragon, Dream Chaser, etc., will also all take people to space -- not only the same sort of astronauts who flew on the shuttle, but a far greater diversity of private astronauts as well. I'm certain that this will only get people more excited about space.

bane 15y ago
"Commercial vehicles such as the CST-100, Dragon, Dream Chaser, etc., will also all take people to space -- not only the same sort of astronauts who flew on the shuttle, but a far greater diversity of private astronauts as well. I'm certain that this will only get people more excited about space." Yes exactly. Becoming an Astronaut has always been for a select, highly qualified few. And it comes with tremendous terrestrial sacrifices. Commercial travel suddenly makes is possible for anybody who can buy a ticket (and can sign the waiver forms) to go somewhere in space. More importantly, the kinds of jobs that we've been putting our astronauts to work on seem mostly like their terrestrial equivalents of "truck driver", "construction worker", "janitor" and now with asteroid mining "miner". Some of those are high risk jobs here on Earth, but there's never been a shortage of people willing to do them in the commercial sector. There's no reason that those job categories require the creme-de-la-creme from humanity...with multiple Masters and Phds, decades in the military with multiple medals for bravery. That model came from the 50's. Let's look for the guys that'll go to Afghanistan and drive a truck to deliver cigarettes to a remote Operating Base, or build whiskey bars in the Arctic. That's the new model for these kinds of space jobs. Hardy pioneer types with a healthy survival instinct and pants full of bravery.

by nkoren 15y ago

bane 15y ago

"Commercial vehicles such as the CST-100, Dragon, Dream Chaser, etc., will also all take people to space -- not only the same sort of astronauts who flew on the shuttle, but a far greater diversity of private astronauts as well. I'm certain that this will only get people more excited about space." Yes exactly. Becoming an Astronaut has always been for a select, highly qualified few. And it comes with tremendous terrestrial sacrifices. Commercial travel suddenly makes is possible for anybody who can buy a ticket (and can sign the waiver forms) to go somewhere in space. More importantly, the kinds of jobs that we've been putting our astronauts to work on seem mostly like their terrestrial equivalents of "truck driver", "construction worker", "janitor" and now with asteroid mining "miner". Some of those are high risk jobs here on Earth, but there's never been a shortage of people willing to do them in the commercial sector. There's no reason that those job categories require the creme-de-la-creme from humanity...with multiple Masters and Phds, decades in the military with multiple medals for bravery. That model came from the 50's. Let's look for the guys that'll go to Afghanistan and drive a truck to deliver cigarettes to a remote Operating Base, or build whiskey bars in the Arctic. That's the new model for these kinds of space jobs. Hardy pioneer types with a healthy survival instinct and pants full of bravery.