Posted on 06/23/2004 6:51:15 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Americas interest in space travel has been declining since the heady Apollo days. SpaceShipOnes successful launch may rekindle the flame
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Space Ping! This is the Space Ping List! Let me know if you want on or off this list!
I think there needs to be some truth about what we want to do there. The old schtick of ant farm experiments and taking dust samples just do not excite anyone today.
SpaceShipOne had a tough flight. It's going to be a while. Maybe they'll be in position to claim the X Prize and maybe they won't. Don't be dismayed by the crashes as increasing numbers of amateurs try spaceflight, just keep the faith. It was the same in the beginning of heavier than air flight.
SS1 had all the viewing ports because Paul Allen demanded it be run with WINDOWS.
That's right. It's time to go someplace. Another planet maybe. There's no shortage of planets and moons to choose from.
That is correct. The Shuttle has been a drain on space travel in general.
Mars seems to hold much promise for discovery. If no excitement can be generated among the general public however, I doubt they can secure the funding for a stepped up program.
Apollo was (is?) the God of the Sun. So how come the Apollo space program wasn't named after some Moon God? A manned mission to the sun just doesn't make any sense.
If the US government started issuing "land grant" equivalents, I bet financing could be arranged. How much would you pay for a 100 year lease on 10,0000 square miles of Moon?
I got me an extra zero in there somewhere.
A little place in Cydonia would be cool with me.
It was my attempt at wresting control of the Space Program from NASA. Now we need to build on President Bush's Space Vision Speech of Jan 14, 2004. We need to speak to Chambers of Commerce, Rotary, Lion's Clubs and any other business oriented entity who can lobby for the contracts that will flow from this program. On the Friday after the President's speech a caller to CSPAN complained, "Why do we want to go back to the moon and build a Lunar Base?" we need jobs here on Earth. I screamed at the screen and tried to get through for two hours. "Where do you think the Lunar base will be built?"
Here in the DFW area there is a long history of Aerospace Manufacturing. Plant 41 at Carswell has built everything from B-24s, B36s, B-58s, F-111, F-16s to the F-22 coming down the pipe. LTV built a plethora of navy fighters dating back to WWII and recently shuttle and ISS components have been built here. What we need is a congressional delegation that is up to the level of Sam Rayburn, LBJ and Rep Jim Wright. They need to bring the bacon home to the metroplex!
Half of Phoebe would be worth about France and Germany combined. Let's get that land office open.
> how come the Apollo space program wasn't named
after some Moon God?
Because the Apollo spacecraft preceeded the moon program. Apollo was to be a general-purpose, operational manned Earth-orbit spacecraft with some possible eventual extension to lunar missions, when Kennedy announced that it'd be a neat idea to get a man to the moon within a decade. Apollo was in very early development, and was recruited for the purpose.
Apollo was a very rugged spacecraft. Had to be to survive reentry from escape velocity. Meteors just burn up at that speed. The capsule sure looked burnt when they fished it out of the drink.
A manned mission to the sun just doesn't make any sense.
sure it does. Just make sure you do it at night.
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