Apollo 17 marks 30th anniversary (Final Moon mission, end of manned space exploration)

Houston Chronicle ^ | Dec. 5, 2002, 11:19PM | By MARK CARREAU

[petuniasevan]

I could never have dreamed back then that we would have left and not returned to the Moon in all this time.

30 years...

[TomB]

Bump for all the moon hoax FReepers.

You know who you are.

[Pay now bill Clinton]

The failure of keeping something so important (space exploration/colonization) in the hands of the government, rather than profit-seeking private enterprise (repeal the UN outer-space treaty!) is what is truely at fault.

People used to say "if we can send a man to the moon, why can't we...[fill in blank]? Well, I don't think we can do even THAT anymore.

We are becoming the Portugal of space colonization. If the USA is the only hope for mankind to make it to the stars, then the human race is in deep trouble.

[Vermont Lt]

"Ron Evans, 39, another Navy aviator, was picked to staff the lunar module, the transit capsule that circled the moon while the other astronauts descended to the surface in the lander. "

Ahhhh.....the command module circled the moon and the LEM went to the surface. This must have been written by someone who never knew the moon without artifacts on it. Well, without HUMAN artifacts on it.

[RogueIsland]

The failure of keeping something so important (space exploration/colonization) in the hands of the government, rather than profit-seeking private enterprise (repeal the UN outer-space treaty!) is what is truely at fault.

Yeah, but if you left it up to private enterprise, they'd naturally use the moon as a nuclear wasted dump, which would eventually explode, sending the moon and Martin Landau hurtling through the interstellar void at faster than light speed (except when it entered another planetary system, at which time it would spontaneously slow down for a little while).

[Greybird]

After Apollo 17, three fully built Saturn V rocket stacks still existed -- they'd been paid for, even though the last three missions were cancelled. One of them carried Skylab into Earth orbit, in lieu of a lunar module.

But the other two? They were laid down on the lawn, in front of the NASA facilities in Houston and Huntsville, becoming the world's most expensive lawn ornaments!

The two final examples of one of the supreme technological achievements of the human race, fully rated and approved for use in manned flight ... becoming rusting trophies for the eyes of NASA bureaucrats. A sour and ignominious end.

Oh, and the original technical specs for the Saturn V, several tons of them, were sold years earlier as waste paper. They couldn't build it again even if we wanted to do so!

I hope you'll forgive a quote from Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven, in their novel, Fallen Angels ...

If it weren't for f**king NASA, then we could have walked on Mars.
If I cannot get to orbit, then I'll never reach the stars.

Portugal, hell. We're no more than the Ace Boondoggle-Alpha Space Trucking Company. What a damnable waste of opportunity. Even I'm starting to wonder if we deserved the achievement that I saw in 1969 at the age of ten.

[Skooz]

Thanks weegee. You have made me feel old very early this morning. That usually doesn't happen until mid-afternoon.

It cannot possibly have been thirty years. Can it?

[vannrox]

.




Thank Nixon for killing the last three Apollo flights.

Thank Ford for not caring a darn.

Thank Carter for starting Space technology transfers to Russia.

Thank Regan for promoting the American Space Station. The "Orient Express" (Airport to space orbit craft). A Moon Base, and the Hubble Space Telescope.

Thank Bush Senior for a Manned Base On Mars in 50 years. And, more Military development in space.

Thank Clinton for tossing it all away...

Clinton single handlily,
Internationalized the American Space Station.
Killed most Manned projects for Robots.
Killed 50% of exploritory spacecraft.
Gave missile technology to China.
Gave Communications technology to China.
Gave guidance technology to China.
Killed a manned moon base.
Killed a manned Mars base.
Killed the orient express and the derivatives of.
Initially reduced the NASA budget from 11Bil to 8Bil in his first year, and then permitted it to increase to 14 Bil by his last year.
And took credit for all the NASA successes, while axing everyne when things went wrong.




.

[anymouse]

Of course the Rat controlled Senate and House during much of that time had no effect on the (lack of) direction of the space program. /sarcasm

If x42 hadn't line item vetoed the budgets for several innovative Space Defense Initiative (SDI) / Balistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), then we would have inexpensive reuseable mannned transportation to space and a effective space-based missile defense system in place now. And with that, we would be well on our way to having a permanent lunar base and establishing a similar outpost on Mars.

[John Jamieson]

"in front of the NASA facilities in Houston and Huntsville"

I think the real flight versions are at JCS and KSC, the Huntsville display is made up of prototypes and etc.

The KSC display is indoors and very nice.

I helped launch all of them and I wish we had a moon base now instead of the International-piece-of-crap we have now.

We could easily build a modern Saturn VI outof uprated SSME's and modern tanks that would deliever about 500,000 pounds to LEO, if we didn't have an albatros around our necks.

[Brett66]

A sad BTTT.

[StolarStorm]

He he hee hee... and I get to go to the Apollo 17 final splashdown party at JSC - SpaceCenter Houston.

[RightWhale]

Did they land on the moon?

Yes, but they might as well have not.

[weegee]

I went 3 years ago to the party at a park nearby. It was open to the public but geared to NASA staff (including retirees who had worked on Apollo 11). I shook hands with Neil Armstrong (he was surrounded by 5 Texas Rangers for security).

[StolarStorm]

5 Texas Rangers? I had no idea that he was under any kind of threat. Yikes

[weegee]

They walked him through the crowd slowly but effectively. He is a somewhat reserved man (he long ago gave up signing autographs). I have seen him throw out the first pitch at an Astros game.

Buzz Aldrin decked a man who had stalked him for an ambused interview (this occurred after I met Neil). Other astronauts have agreed that they get their share of "coverup" letters. One said that he not only gets the "c'mon, tell us that you never really went to the moon" letters, he also gets the "c'mon, tells us what you really saw on the moon" letters.

I'm aware of no direct threat, but like the public's lack of sense when they encounter one of the Beatles (even to this day), I'm sure that every day has a potential crowd control problems.

[El Sordo]

It kills me to say this, but I understand that Gore is whole hog on advancing the space program.

[Ipberg]

It kills me to say this, but I understand that Gore is whole hog on advancing the space program.

The one good thing about Al Gore, in my opinion, is that he's a computer geek. He's never an arms-reach away from his PDA. We all know about his claim that he invented the Internet.

Born in 1975, I'm too young to have lived through the Mercury, Geminini and Apollo missions. Videos of those missions is just history to me like December 7, 1941 is to Baby Boomers and September 11th will be to my children. A manned Mars mission with American leadership would be just thing to revive NASA's raison d'etre otherwise it's very likely we'll one day see a red flag with yellow stars planted on that planet.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Thanks for the excellent article.....