Space Forum / Shuttle / July 2005

Well actually if you watch the conference (as opposed to the overactive
press saying what happened at the conference) the NASA types said that
they were unhappy with the performance of the tank foam and that it would
need to be fixed before the next flight.  A press member said "Is the
shuttle fleet grounded?"  and the response was if you want to call it
that.  But work on readying the next shuttle flight(s) will continue as a
tank solution is sought.

"Carlos Santillan" <cmsahe@hotmail.com> wrote...

Uh, yeah, that's what I just said a moment ago in another newsgroup
(at least that Bush intended to destroy NASA by giving it a mission
impossible for its budget), and I said it when Bush originally
announced the Moon/Mars missions then no mention was made of it
afterwards.  Bush intends to devote NASA's paltry budget to
missions that are impossible at that price, the cost overrun will
be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and the whole thing
scrapped including NASA's successful and cheap unmanned robotic
missions.  I have no idea why Bush wants to do this, he is truly
a supreme a.shole.  Maybe he's thinking along the lines of St.
Ronnie's Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, who honestly
believed that protecting the environment was of no importance
because the Apocalypse was just about to happen.

Damn, you either read my post or my mind.  My post to another newsgroup
(I forget which but it was crossposted) said exactly that, that for all
our hi-tech shuttle technology, we can't get into space while the
Russians with their clunky 1960s-era technology get there safely and
reliably each and every time.  Neither technology is supreme, both have
their advantages and flaws, but NASA pursued an untested technology
while completely ignoring a tried & true technology so now we are stuck
here on earth while the Russkies, Chinese, and soon Indians are all
going into space.  Thanks so f.cking much, Bush!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Por lo visto, había habido hasta manifestaciones para agradecerle al
Gran Hermano el aumento de la ración de chocolate a 20g cada semana.
Ayer mismo, pensó, se había anunciado que la ración SE REDUCIRÍA a 20g
semanales.  ¿Cómo era posible que pudieran tragarse aquello, si no
habían pasado más que 24 horas?  Sin embargo, se lo tragaron.  Parsons
lo digería con toda facilidad, con la estupidez de un animal.  El
individuo de las gafas con reflejos, en la otra mesa, lo aceptaba
fanática y apasionadamente con un furioso deseo de descubrir, denunciar
y vaporizar a todo aquel que insinuase que la semana pasada la ración
fue de 30g.  Syme también se lo había tragado aunque el proceso que
seguía para ello era algo más complicado, un proceso de doblepensar.
¿Es que sólo él, Winston, seguía poseyendo memoria?"
-- 1984
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Not really, as Shuttle isn't planned for use in the Moon/Mars program.
Shuttle is scheduled for retirement in 2010. (Now, I wager, retirement
will be on August 7, 2005.)

If anything, cancelling Shuttle now frees up NASA money to speed up
work on the Moon/Mars program.

Brian

For any successful manned mission to the Moon and beyond, the ISS needs to
become a true orbital space port, it's going to take quite an effort to see
that come up anytime soon.

Soyuz's track record is indeed a very good one, but comparing it to the
Shuttle it's doing the Oranges vs Apples things, totally different vehicles,
totally different purpose. For starters, the Soyuz cargo capabilities
scratch the 6 ton mark, while the Shuttle can carry about 28 tons into orbit
and then bring some back, the Soyuz can't do that as it is not designed to.
Now, once the ISS is properly setup there's nothing shabby on the idea of
using Soyuz-class vehicles launched from orbit.

NASA's budget in today's dollars pales in comparison to the 60's figures
when the race to the Moon was on. Bush indeed tried to pull a fast one
making that wild and moronic announcement on a manned mission to Mars... the
Monkey Brain :-P