Space Forum / Shuttle / October 2005

With Bush and Griffin still hard set on dumping the shuttle in August 2010
no matter what, it just seems odd that testing and improvements continue to
move ahead for something that's supposed to be dead in less than five years.
I'm really starting to wonder what's going to happen ...

Sure, the Florida quarter came out in 2004 and it might have been in
the late part of the year, but you can be sure the die for it was cast
sometime in 2003, before the tragic disintegration of Columbia over
Texas...and Arizona...and California......

   'Star Trek' Actor George Takei Comes Out
LOS ANGELES — George Takei, who as helmsman Sulu steered the Starship
Enterprise through three television seasons and six movies, has come out
as a homosexual in the current issue of Frontiers, a biweekly Los

I was pondering last night... very dangerous, I know.. Well, I was wondering
why the CEV was a larger version of Apollo type re-entry techniques.
I eventually realised that  it is in fact lighter and cheaper on all sorts
of fronts.

October 28, 2005
Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-3749)

I know, ISS is doomed to be ditched in less than ten years,
but just as an intellectual excercise what would it take to
make ISS into a Mars or Lunar-bound craft?
My thoughts would be one or more ion thrusters powered with

People have discussed "thethers" which have to have heights in the tens
of thousands of kilometres.
What about a tower of a scale of WTC or CN Tower or even twice that with
extremely powerful magnetic linear engines.

Griffin's Lunch With Andy Card
Editor's note: Mike Griffin recently had lunch with the President's
Chief of Staff, Andrew Card. According to a number of poeple, in his
retelling of that lunch, Griffin has told a number of people that the

Report: NASA caved to schedule, Pressure contributed to Discovery's foam
shedding, investigators say
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051021/NEWS02/510210336/1007
I can't say I'm surprised.  This just seems to indicate that NASA's "safety

University Communications
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Contact Information:

Finally, someone at the top of NASA is willing to say it like it is.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050928/1a_bottomstrip28.art.htm
The problem with government programs is that bad ideas which get along
to a certain point just keep going and going.  Institutional and

I read somewhere, that the Saturn V was powerful enough to reach orbit
with only four engines, running at 100%. But they added an extra engine
and ran all five at 80%, in case an engine failed, they've have an extra
one.

It is my understanding that thrust is the result of mass being
accelerated.
So you take a kilo of H2 and half a kilo of O2, and accelerate them
towards the ground, which pushes you up with equal force toward the sky.

Would someone be kind enough to tell how many times satellites were
brought back for repairs by the STS?  Any information on the topic
would be most appreciated.  Thanks.
Dave Mitsky