Space Shuttle launches today

[JOVE23]

Friendly reminder.



Behold, ROBONAUT:

 

[MassHavoc]

A what is having who today?

 

[IceHogsFan]

Is today the last scheduled launch?

 

[jakobeast]

Is today the last scheduled launch?

It's the last launch for Discovery

 

[IceHogsFan]

It's the last launch for Discovery

Thought I had read that the Space Shuttle program itself did not have any more scheduled flights but there would be a standby shuttle in the event of an emergency on the Space Station. I assumed that the shuttles were going to be mothballed with any future endeavors (see what I did there?) to fall upon the newly designed space vehicle.



I am thinking that NASA is nearing the end of its famed existence. The money is not there and it sounds like the future is in limbo.

 

[MassHavoc]

Thought I had read that the Space Shuttle program itself did not have any more scheduled flights but there would be a standby shuttle in the event of an emergency on the Space Station. I assumed that the shuttles were going to be mothballed with any future endeavors (see what I did there?) to fall upon the newly designed space vehicle.



I am thinking that NASA is nearing the end of its famed existence. The money is not there and it sounds like the future is in limbo.

Yeah, apparently they are shutting it all down, and privatizing it? This shuttle mission is apparently being used to test some of the devices that the company in California uses that will be taking over some of the international space station stuff.

 

[TSD]

I don't understand why people view space exploration as such a throwaway endeavor. Understanding and traversing space is an unavoidable requirement for the longevity of the human race.

 

[MassHavoc]

I don't understand why people view space exploration as such a throwaway endeavor. Understanding and traversing space is an unavoidable requirement for the longevity of the human race.

I for one hate to see it go. I guess nasa has a rep for throwing away money. but they seem to have the most upside of a lot of science as far as discovery goes. Read some of the articles of the things they are testing while they are up there? (BUT look past them capping a bottle for a museum in Japan, haha)

 

[TSD]

I for one hate to see it go. I guess nasa has a rep for throwing away money. but they seem to have the most upside of a lot of science as far as discovery goes. Read some of the articles of the things they are testing while they are up there? (BUT look past them capping a bottle for a museum in Japan, haha)

It really is pathetic and it sickens me. We have money to "defeat tehrorism" but cant spare money for endeavors than can really push the human race forward. We need to quit fucking around with this petty nationalistic bullshit and get some goddamn unity and look beyond our insignificant existence here.

 

[ginnie]

Thought I had read that the Space Shuttle program itself did not have any more scheduled flights but there would be a standby shuttle in the event of an emergency on the Space Station. I assumed that the shuttles were going to be mothballed with any future endeavors (see what I did there?) to fall upon the newly designed space vehicle.



I am thinking that NASA is nearing the end of its famed existence. The money is not there and it sounds like the future is in limbo.

NASA is not going anywhere. They still have lots of missions ongoing or planned for the future - but these are unmanned missions.

The ISS though is still operating, using Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Too bad Obama cancelled the planned Moon missions.

 

[IceHogsFan]

NASA is not going anywhere. They still have lots of missions ongoing or planned for the future - but these are unmanned missions.

The ISS though is still operating, using Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Too bad Obama cancelled the planned Moon missions.

And that coming from a Canadian brother!

 

[ginnie]

And that coming from a Canadian brother!

Being Canadian has nothing to do with it

I've been a long time space enthusiast, and the U.S. has for 45 years been the leader in that field. I know the Russians had a lot of "firsts", but that basically ended in 1965 when the U.S. Gemini missions started (excepting the first space station). The U.S. could have been first in space both manned and unmanned too, except they didn't want to use military rockets and in the case of manned missions opted for safety first.

... and here's a tidbit - the Russians decided to put three in a capsule instead of the U.S. having only two. They did it by fitting three cosmonauts into a two man capsule. There wasn't even enough room for them to wear spacesuits! Thats how they played the game.

 

[JOVE23]

... and here's a tidbit - the Russians decided to put three in a capsule instead of the U.S. having only two. They did it by fitting three cosmonauts into a two man capsule. There wasn't even enough room for them to wear spacesuits! Thats how they played the game.

That 3 guys with no suits thing backfired on Soyuz 11 when they all died.

 

[ginnie]

That 3 guys with no suits thing backfired on Soyuz 11 when they all died.

Yeah, there was no excuse for that. The Russians had already put three in space together six years or so earlier, after that "first" there was no reason to do it again. And they had enough time to redesign the capsule to fit three by 1971 anyway.

 

[JOVE23]

Yeah, there was no excuse for that. The Russians had already put three in space together six years or so earlier, after that "first" there was no reason to do it again. And they had enough time to redesign the capsule to fit three by 1971 anyway.

Quality control and the Soviet space program went hand in hand like arbitration and staying on the Blackhawks:



-Nedelin Disaster (let's do 14 things at once and not be surprised when the fucking rocket explodes)

-Komarov (sorry comrade your parachute's broked)

-MIR (oh fuckski it's on fire again)

-Bondarenko (this one really pisses me off because if they'd have told us how bad pure O2 is Apollo 1 might not have happened)

-Soyuz 11 (who needs spacesuits?)

 

[ginnie]

Quality control and the Soviet space program went hand in hand like arbitration and staying on the Blackhawks:



-Nedelin Disaster (let's do 14 things at once and not be surprised when the fucking rocket explodes)

-Komarov (sorry comrade your parachute's broked)

-MIR (oh fuckski it's on fire again)

-Bondarenko (this one really pisses me off because if they'd have told us how bad pure O2 is Apollo 1 might not have happened)

-Soyuz 11 (who needs spacesuits?)

Well, the fire on Apollo 1 should never have happened anyway - somebody didn't have their thinking caps one. NASA was well aware of the properties of pure oxygen at sea level, but I guess they didn't count on a frayed wire sparking a fire. Plus the fact that it took so long to open the capsule hatch.



The Russians would have surely beat the Americans to the moon if that N-1 rocket had worked!

 

[MassHavoc]

SO, since you guys seem to be knowledgeable, I always found it interesting the experiments and discoveries that resulted from different missions. Can you enlighten us on some of the stuff you know about? I particularly like that ones where they take something that is done commonly on earth then just do it in space in to see... haha for some reason they are entertaining to me.

 

[ginnie]

SO, since you guys seem to be knowledgeable, I always found it interesting the experiments and discoveries that resulted from different missions. Can you enlighten us on some of the stuff you know about? I particularly like that ones where they take something that is done commonly on earth then just do it in space in to see... haha for some reason they are entertaining to me.

You mean like when Alan Shepard on Apollo 14 made that one handed golf swing?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdqBL5pdRT8



My interest is mainly the Apollo missions but also the Mercury and Gemini flights. That was a time mostly of figuring out how to get there in the first place, the logistics of it all.

I'm not all that up on the SKylab, Space Shuttle and ISS missions where they started sending up scientists and doctors etc. doing a lot of experiments.

 

[JOVE23]

Well, the fire on Apollo 1 should never have happened anyway - somebody didn't have their thinking caps one. NASA was well aware of the properties of pure oxygen at sea level, but I guess they didn't count on a frayed wire sparking a fire. Plus the fact that it took so long to open the capsule hatch.

Yeah. Who the **** thought of an inward opening hatch you needed a socket wrench and half a dozen bolts for? Not to mention velcroing velcro to velcro.



I hope they display that capsule somewhere as a reminder to people that spaceflight is as far from routine as something can get.

 

[sth]

Loss of life is unavoidable in space flight. In the 30 years of the Space Shuttle we had 14 people die. You can't avoid it because it is so risky especially over hundreds of missions. Although after their very poor start I don't think the Russians have lost a Cosmonaut since the time of the Apollo program. Could it be by not using a reusable vehicle?