Posted on 07/02/2011 3:19:42 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
CAPE CANAVERAL — The last shuttle, Atlantis, sits on Pad 39A, ready for its valedictory flight.
It is the nature of a shuttle to look kind of lonely out there on the pad, kept at a safe remove from the control room, the hangars, the observation platforms. The pad is not far from the beach, one of the last stretches of Florida coastline unblemished by hotels and condos. Beach houses were torn down years ago when the federal government showed up with rockets. Old-timers talk of 11 graveyards and an old schoolhouse lurking somewhere out there, the remnants of the era before the coming of the spaceport.
Now the U.S. space program itself is middle-aged, facing a painful transition. Atlantis will blast off, if all goes as planned, at 11:26 a.m. July 8 for a 12-day mission to the international space station. And then . . . what?
Then a lot of uncertainty. The only sure bet is that thousands of people here will be out of a job.
NASA’s critics say the human spaceflight program is in a shambles. They see arm-waving and paperwork rather than a carefully defined mission going forward. NASA has lots of plans, but it has no new rocket ready to launch, no specific destination selected, and no means in the near term to get American astronauts into space other than by buying a seat on one of Russia’s aging Soyuz spacecraft.
The space agency’s leaders say everything’s on track, that the private sector will soon launch astronauts into orbit and let NASA focus on the hard work of deep-space exploration.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
/johnny
Not sure what you mean by this. NASA oversees contracts with the private sector already; the private sector builds, launches, and operates satellites with government oversight, supervision and facilities.
Just handing it over to the "private sector" will produce nothing unless they are funded. Much of what NASA does benefits mankind; who in the private sector has the resources for space research?
We are all witnesses to the end of space exploration. The government has too many obligations for interest payments on borrowed money, entitlement programs, supporting the UN, and irresponsible wars. Countries that we want to emulate like Cuba and Kenya have no space programs.
The rockets face east and NASA promotes Islam so all is well.
Where's this writer been? There have been 6 - SIX - layoffs since October. There is only a skeleton crew left.
NASA needs to get back to basic research. Free enterprise can do the rest.
With what funds?
Have you forgotten, or been outta country for a couple years? The Messiah ordered NASA to reroute the funds to 'mostly Muslim countries' in order to train Muslim youth in rocket/space sciences. It's only fair, ya know. (The biggest chunk is going to Indonesia.
There is no money being 'saved' - indeed, I suspicion that money and even MORE is going to the Muslims -
We better arm our astronauts with lightsabers!
Because the Defense department, not NASA, is in charge of defending us from such deadly threats, whether man-made or natural.
That's a proper role for Defense, which has plenty of launch-and-destroy capability that should be adapted to reach beyond earth orbit.
NASA has crumbled into little more than a politically-correct PR front for bloated government. Its demise would be part of a welcome decline in federal bureaucracy.
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“The space agency’s leaders say everything’s on track, that the private sector will soon launch astronauts into orbit and let NASA focus on the hard work of deep-space exploration.”
The same private sector that NASA oh-so-carefully spent the last twenty years poisoning the well of and killing promising projects off with FUD? That private sector?
The sad fact remains that due to stupidity we no longer have the capability to build a Saturn V.
The same kind of people who donate privately to medical research and universities, totaling billions of dollars annually.
There are millions of people who would step up to fund space research, just as there are millions more who would (and do) fund charity.
Especially if the bloated federal government ever gets out of the way and lets American citizens prosper enough to help each other, instead of relying on a failed socialist bureacracy to do everything for us in return for our votes.....including entertaining us occasionally with cool photos from space.
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It’s just means of funneling tech that can be used in bombs and missiles to his terrorist buddies.
As for NASA, I lost all respect for them when they killed off the DC-X program (even after they were given the project) because it threatened the overpriced, overweight and overblown Shuttle.
Well, let's see - heres’s a link to all the valuable spinoffs from the space program - many of which we use and enjoy everyday with not a clue as to where it was developed:
Hers’ one link where you can explore some of the thousands of things we enjoy today - advantages in technology, computer sciences, aviation, medicine, everyday living - as direct spinoffs from NASA
http://www.nasatech.com/Spinoff/Spinoff2005/contents.html
Would you post a link to the corresponding advantages of “say the section 8 housing programs of HUD” that you compare to our Space Program?
(an aside: I, for one, am not comfortable to leaving the control of Space to China, India, Russia - etc. Guess a lot of you are.)
Teflon was used as gasket material in pipes carrying Uranium Hexaflouride during the Manhattan project. I think it was invented (actually, serendipitously discovered) not long before that.
Sickening. Doesn't 0bamby pay attention to the news ?
Muslim "youth" (especially in Iran) are already being trained in rocket science.
Not for space travel, but to deliver nukes.
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____We can’t build a Saturn V anymore. Your government at work....______
Sure we can, there is one laying on it’s side, intact on the grounds of JSC.
The Saturn V was a great booster in its day but is quite obsolete today.
NASA To Focus On Muslim Outreach
Feb 2010
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/feb/nasa-focus-muslim-outreach
_____ Muslim “youth” (especially in Iran) are already being trained in rocket science.
Not for space travel, but to deliver nukes.______
I think you make a false assumption that Zero is not intentionally destroying the US.
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