shuttle fleet grounded again

[Beawulf]

As you have all probably heard by now, the shuttle fleet has been grounded again after debris fell from the main fuel tank during the discovery launch. Personally I think it is a shame and would have hoped they could deal with the issue without such a dramatic move. I would have thought with the new in-space repair techniques any problems resulting from launch debris could be dealt with. I hope these events are seen as a reason for increased spending, rather than a reduction.

 

 

With all the problems lately I imagine they will be speeding up the developement of the shuttles replacement. At the moment they are working on a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) which sounds rather dissapointing if you ask me. It is going to be another capsule type craft along the lines of Apollo, except reusable. Considering the shuttle was designed in the 70's we should be able to do ALOT better with current knowledge and expertise

 

 

Personally I think they should be going bigger :cyclops: they would probably need to make use of something like scramjet engines to help reach orbit. What do you think?

[quosego]

Space is the future, They really need to start building nice things instead of those pieces of junk we're now sending into space. I mean Solar sailing is way more promising then an spaceshuttle, but the only people who've tried that paid for it themselves and because financial reasons had to use an soviet missile to get it in space (not the most reliable pieces of equipment). And were's the colony on the moon???

[frodoxxx]

They screwed up when they stopped the x planes. If they had left it to the airforce we would have a fleet of space planes by now.

[Furious]

Contrarty to popular beleif the Space Shuttle is actually hindering our advancement into space. The Shuttle can only go to LEO (Low Earth Orbit). They are wasting so much of their time and money on this and the ISS.

 

The fact is the shuttle is a ticking mini nuke waiting to go off any time soon. The shuttle has so many design flaws. It makes you wonder if their will be more colombia disasters in the future.

 

What NASA should do is follow the Mars direct plan. It is a simple plan to go to mars for $35 billion dollars instead of the $217 billion NASA is thinking off. It can get NASA into mars in 3 years. Not in 2030.

[psheldrake1]

 

You need more than One ship for Mars travel. A group of three would be best.

[nuages]

Contrarty to popular beleif the Space Shuttle is actually hindering our advancement into space. The Shuttle can only go to LEO (Low Earth Orbit). They are wasting so much of their time and money on this and the ISS.

 

The fact is the shuttle is a ticking mini nuke waiting to go off any time soon. The shuttle has so many design flaws. It makes you wonder if their will be more colombia disasters in the future.

 

What NASA should do is follow the Mars direct plan. It is a simple plan to go to mars for $35 billion dollars instead of the $217 billion NASA is thinking off. It can get NASA into mars in 3 years. Not in 2030.

 

what is the mars direct plan??

[mmvonr]

Typcial knee-jerk reaction: Ooh, a problem--ground everything! This means that it'll be years, if ever, before we get back into space. . .

[Beawulf]

i heard that branson's group is taking bookings for flights into space, cant remember the prices, a few hundred thousand for a 5 minute trip, and a few million to stay at the ISS for a couple of days.

 

 

oh to be rich

 

 

 

actually if I were ridiculously wealthy I would be designing my own ship and building a base on the moon and mars, screw nasa. you snooze you loose

[carcynsdad]

Space is the future' date=' They really need to start building nice things instead of those pieces of junk we're now sending into space. I mean Solar sailing is way more promising then an spaceshuttle, but the only people who've tried that paid for it themselves and because financial reasons had to use an soviet missile to get it in space (not the most reliable pieces of equipment). And were's the colony on the moon??? [/quote']

 

 

funny the russians a have more reliable space program than nasa. during the last shuttle grounding the russians made all the trips to the ISS.

[Beawulf]

Yay they made it back safely and are planning another launch in September I think it was. I was doing some searching around to read some of the arguments against the shuttle design just out of curiousity. And came accross and article linked from the wikipedia page on the space shuttle. A rocket to nowhere.

 

Definately worth a read. It raises alot of interesting points. talking about the airforce influence in the design, the affect on space efforts as a whole and the drain on funding from other areas of exploration and technology development.

 

 

In the news reports I was watching before uni this morning, one of the nasa officials was talking about the expense that will be required to keep the shuttle running to complete the ISS and said it is going to delay future missions to mars for a long time. I'm starting to think we should have skipped these intermediate steps and tried to establish a base on the moon a long time ago. c'mon ESA, Canada, Russia... time to step to the forefront.

 

Make it so!

[S0V13T]

Space is the future' date=' They really need to start building nice things instead of those pieces of junk we're now sending into space. I mean Solar sailing is way more promising then an spaceshuttle, but the only people who've tried that paid for it themselves and because financial reasons had to use an soviet missile to get it in space (not the most reliable pieces of equipment). And were's the colony on the moon??? [/quote']

 

 

funny the russians a have more reliable space program than nasa. during the last shuttle grounding the russians made all the trips to the ISS.

 

Nothing funny about it really. Like the classic example of USA vs Soviet budgeting in regards to their space programs: The USA spent around 6 million to develop a pen that would work in zero gravity.

 

The Soviets, used a 35 cent pencil.

[GorunNova]

i.e. stupid allocation of resources. Not uncommon in any area of life these days ;p

[martog]

Check out Journey to Mars, an episode of PBS's Scientific American Frontiers that explores the Mars Direct Project.

 

Robert Zubrin heads the Mars Direct Project.

 

At http://www.marssociety.org/docs/05.31.01.zubrin.senate.testimony.asp one will find Zubrin's Testimony before Congress.

[lamp]

cancelling the x33 was a stupid decision.

 

what we need is loads of propaganda about the chinese space program so the US feel threatened and spend loads more money on space

[kyran]

they should borrow the british space plane

not only does it take off like a plane which is cheaper on fuel but it gathers hydrogen on the way which helps to refuel it on the move :)

and it ain't as complicated as the american one so it won't keep breaking :)

 

[Bossmanuk]

they should borrow the british space plane

not only does it take off like a plane which is cheaper on fuel but it gathers hydrogen on the way which helps to refuel it on the move :)

and it ain't as complicated as the american one so it won't keep breaking :)

 

Yes but that doesn't go right into space; just on the edge of the earths atmosphere - it barely enters space.

[str82u]

Yeah, ain't that something, if they had something newer, eh. Put a tax on those #$@&ers who are charging 2.55 a gallon for gas, that would get a new shuttle off the ground quick.

[S0V13T]

That reminds me, anyone else (in canada) notice that gas prices are over a buck a liter now? Good fraking lord....

[wahaha]

MAGLEV launch platform.. the best!!!1111111111122222222

[Pella]

they should borrow the british space plane

not only does it take off like a plane which is cheaper on fuel but it gathers hydrogen on the way which helps to refuel it on the move :)

and it ain't as complicated as the american one so it won't keep breaking :)

 

Yes but that doesn't go right into space; just on the edge of the earths atmosphere - it barely enters space.

 

I'm sure that if NASA channelled the spent on the grounded shuttles was put into R and D the British design could be tinkered with to achieve orbit.

 

Ever since 'the space race' started we been in competion with each other, perhaps all the space agencies should work together, afterall alledgedly that's what the ISS all about.

 

Shudders the cost of a pen vs a pencil.