Vehicle: The Space Shuttle

[japmn]

Last shuttle launch is in five minutes. No more shuttle after that.

I hope it goes flawless. I will miss the shuttle. I bet we never have a another craft like it. In the future, space travel will probably be an entirely privately run enterprise. Bummer.

[Sock OR Muffin?]

A great final launch. Salut Atlantis!

[pet fever detector]

Agreed. That said, where's my flying car and my vacation to the moon?

Here's a flying car for you.

i kinda like this one better:

http://www.moller.com/index.php?option= ... &Itemid=57

[alex maiolo]

I love NASA, and think space exploration is cool.

I thought the Space Shuttle was a great idea, and it would act as a gateway craft. Over 30 years later we're still using that jalopy? It's gauges look like odometers. After a decade of space badassery, we kind of hit a plateau with this thing.

It didn't pave the way to a Space Airplane, and while it was cool to be able to conduct experiments in space, it's pretty clear that using the older rocketship technology would have yielded just as good of results for a lot less money.

Putting aside the "what was DONE on the shuttle was good" argument, because of the "coulda been done with a rocketship" argument, what did the shuttle ultimately get us? How did it move us forward?

I'm leaning towards "Crappy Boondoggle Program" as soft of a spot as I have for the thing, because I know politics were all up in that program from day one, all the way down to the design, but I can be convinced otherwise if someone can school me.

-A

[greg]

This is pretty cool. Testing of the abort rockets on the new Orion capsule.

[greg]

...and done. No more shuttle.

[emmanuelle cunt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbnT8Sf_LRs


Video of mission control with audio from flight controls recorded during the doomed Columbia re-entry in 2003.

[Marsupialized]