NASA Chief: Space Shuttle, Int'l Space Station Were Mistakes (Link Only)

USA Today ^ | 27 Sep 2005 | Traci Watson

[af_vet_rr]

NASA administrator says space shuttle was a mistake - actual link to article - Source URL points to Slashdot where I first came across it.

[af_vet_rr]

"It is now commonly accepted that was not the right path,"

I know very little about this guy, but I like him already.

[af_vet_rr]

ping

[camle]

yeah, no sh!t sherlock. if you want something done, do it yourself and stop mucking about looking for others to help (in name only as it turned out).

set a goal (mars) and focus on it. make everything you do impact upon that goal. if it doesn't, then jettison it - it costs resources.

space for the sake of space will not sell. if you offer the resources of an entire planet, colonization, exploration, etc. that has a better chance of striking a chord.

As for the shuttle? I said tiles were a bad idea when they came out with them.

[EagleUSA]

I know very little about this guy, but I like him already.
-----
Yes, he is right. I worked on the Apollo program and was staggered when they stopped it. That was a huge mistake and it set us back in serious exploration by decades. So much good (technologically and otherwise) came from the development and execution of Apollo.

Let's hope they are serious about spending some money on it, rather than on illegal aliens...

[edcoil]

I attended a 1995 speech by Wally Schirra (One of the original 7). He noted then that the space station has started as a good idea but will fail because of all the rules tehy were putting in at NASA regarding who must be involved, etc. (EEOC stuff).

Now we look back 10 years and see how little NASA has accomplished. Well, at least there are 1,000's of ex-Nasa folks living off you and me with full retirement pay and benefits.

Course, they achieved nothing and helped their country even less.

[George from New England]

Quote from the slashdot thread...

As one commentator put it recently, "the only research that has been carried out at the ISS is of the caliber of a high school science fair."

[af_vet_rr]

Yes, he is right. I worked on the Apollo program and was staggered when they stopped it. That was a huge mistake and it set us back in serious exploration by decades. So much good (technologically and otherwise) came from the development and execution of Apollo.

I had the chance to attend a lecture that Burt Rutan gave. He mentioned that NASA was always in this mode of "as soon as the next project comes out, the preceding project was almost always dumped, no matter how successful it was" (my paraphrase).

He talked about how there was no logical reason to dump the Saturn/Apollo program, and to stop using Saturn rockets, other than to justify the existence of the Shuttle.

He briefly went over how efficient and safe the Saturn rockets were compared to the Shuttle, and how, had the development of the Saturn rockets continued, with today's materials, fuel, engines, and computers/avionics, the Saturns would be incredibly efficient.

Considering how much more efficient and cheaper (and easier to assemble/launch) the Saturns were, and how many we could have built and put to use since the first of the Shuttle flights, it's staggering to think about where we would be now.

Unfortunately, people in Congress have to have their pork, and the Shuttle was sexier.

[brownsfan]

"set a goal (mars) and focus on it. make everything you do impact upon that goal. if it doesn't, then jettison it - it costs resources. "

Well said. Too many people throw stones at NASA, forgetting what NASA has given us, and focusing on the downside. In my opinion, NASA's problem has been loss of direction. They didn't have that goal, that thing for which to strive. With a goal comes a sense of urgency, and it makes staying up all night solving problems seem to be worth it.
NASA with a focus, and a goal, and tangible public results, would be a good thing for us as a country. I grew up idolizing astronauts. It fueled my interest in science and technology. My job is currently in technology and I have no doubt that NASA's influence is part of why I chose this path. If we want to be stronger in science, we need examples for the kids as to why science matters.

[metalcor]

This 100 billion dollar trip back to the moon sounds no better. If what I have read about the proposed 'space elevator' has any validity, it seems it would be well worth the effort and cost effective. The tech spinning off from the development of the materials needed would be easily appreciated and would lead to much more efficient interplanetary missions instead of more of the same. That the Chinese may beat us back to the Moon doesn't distress me very much, especially if we are building something like the elevator while they are using our technology of 20 years ago to get there.

[1Old Pro]

Unmanned flight is the way to go. Incredibly cheaper.

[Vaquero]

When the former-nazi Von Braun died, he took the whole shootin' match with him.

The Apollo program was great...lets hope they can revive the spirit of it. (though Kennedy promised us the moon before the end of the decade and it took 8 years and it was done....why will this take 12-13 years?)

[Boundless]

The STS was supposed to be:
- cheaper: never was
- launch more often: never did
- reuseable: arguably is not
- safer?

The recent "back to the future" family of proposed
launchers tacitly admitted what this guy is now
publically confirming. Eventually a NASA Administrator
had to admit it.

[Vaquero]

Unmanned flight is the way to go. Incredibly cheaper. what is the point if there are no explorers. That defeats human progress.

[brownsfan]

"Now we look back 10 years and see how little NASA has accomplished. Well, at least there are 1,000's of ex-Nasa folks living off you and me with full retirement pay and benefits.

Course, they achieved nothing and helped their country even less."

I don't know if you meant that how it sounds, but to me it sounds as if you are blaming the individuals who worked at NASA for the lack of results and for taking retirement?
The leadership sets the course, rank and file engineers and scientists do what they have to in order to implement the "plan". And if someone works for the government and retires, yes, they live off of our taxes, is that a problem?

[jpl]

All they have to do now is jettison the time and money they're wasting on the "global warming" garbage and maybe there's a chance NASA can again become the great organization it once was.

[1Old Pro]

what is the point if there are no explorers. That defeats human progress.

What progress? A pen that writes upside down so our explorers can write postcards from space?

[af_vet_rr]

Too many people throw stones at NASA, forgetting what NASA has given us, and focusing on the downside.

People also forget that NASA basically has to go by what Congress wants, or risk getting their budgets slashed. Congress gets very involved in NASA's budget, way too involved at times. Friends that have worked at or with NASA have mentioned that NASA has to dance to Congress' tune.

A lot of the bad decisions made by NASA really came from either the White House or Congress.

The Space Shuttle is the prime example, as is the ISS.

When you go back, and you look at what the Space Shuttle was originally going to be, and you look at how much more payload could have been put aloft by something like the Saturns with the same amount of money, it's pretty clear where the problems began. I'm making up figures but you catch my drift - given the chance between spending $200 Billion on the Shuttle program and getting 50 flights out of it, and spending $200 Billion on Saturns and getting 150 flights, NASA would much rather have gone down the second path.

[theFIRMbss]

>I know very little about this guy, but I like him already.

Don't be sure. This nut
thinks the "right path" is to build
Apollo again!

[Jake The Goose]

Yeh - I can imagine the "space elevator" holding up under a hurricane - or any other kind of weather.

Just another NASA wish list item.

[Vaquero]

that old saw....please..get more contemporary...that is an urban legend.

It enriches the human experience to explore. by your way of thinking we should be living in europe today and exploring the new world with remote controlled square rigged tall ships.