Hurricane Threatens Shuttle Program

evenprime writes "Hurricane Frances may end NASA's space shuttle program. John Logsdon, a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and the head of George Washington University's Space Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., has said: 'If there were serious damage to one or two of the orbiters or the facilities needed to process and launch the orbiters, I think it would raise a very large question about the continuation of the shuttle program.'"

Comments

Re:Damn!

[Shugart]

The end of the U.S. manned space program does not mean the end of manned space flight. I don't understand the assumption that if the U.S. doesn't do something, no one will.

Big Frigging Deal - it's time for it to die anyway

[qbzzt]

Hi,

NASA has been under budgeted, over managed, and terribly inefficient for decades. Having the government run space flight might have been a good idea during the cold war, when it was important to remind the world that everything the Russians can do we can do better. Today, it is not.

There are cheaper ways to get to LEO (Low Earth Orbit). There are private enterprises which try to get to space in a way that is economically viable. Economically viable means that you don't have to beg Congress for dollars and then use whatever contractors, locations, etc. you need to provide the right pork to the right congress-person. Instead, you can focus on doing what ought to be done.

What do we need manned flight to LEO for? It's close enough that we can remote control everything that a robot can do. Robots that are cheaper and more expendable. Let us send robots and find ways to use it to build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to the skies.

Eventually, we'll need manned space flight to get to resources that are too distant for a remote controlled mission. But now is not the time. Now what we need is less public excitement and more investor excitement. Less spectacles and more value creation.

Just my 2c worth,
Ori

Re:Damn!

[meringuoid]

The Shuttle's just... wrong. You're carrying massive amounts of dead weight every time it flies - how much is wasted carrying those wings to orbit?

My plan for the future is:

1: Scrap the Shuttles.
2: Cede LEO to the Russians. They're good at LEO: just look at their record with Soyuz, the Salyuts and Mir.
3: Build a Lunar Transfer Vehicle to move back and forth between Earth orbit and Moon orbit. Ferry crews to it on Soyuz, launch fuel on big dumb boosters (Titan, Proton, Ariane, take yer pick)
4: Construct moon base.

Why waste more of America's money building a Shuttle Plus that won't ever go anywhere? Don't reinvent the Russian wheel; instead, do something new...

Grrrr

[starseeker]

I still don't get how anybody can even THINK of abandoning manned space travel. Sure, humans are fragile and expensive. Sure, it's cheaper to send robots. But CRIPES, people. It's an adventure! It's a new experience for the human race. That, IN AND OF ITSELF, is more than enough justification for continuing.

I know all the arguements about how we should fix our problems down here on earth before we pour $$ into space, but I've got news for those people. We're never going to fix those problems. They are caused by human beings. If we wait for the day when everything is hunky dory on this planet, we might as well give up any exploration of any kind.

Dreams are IMPORTANT. That sense of wonder you felt as a little kid looking up at the sky, that's IMPORTANT. Exploration tests us, pushes us, forces us to grow beyond what we thought possible. It seems to be the only way we do that without killing each other in the process. Keeping the mind engaged and interested is essential to who we are as a species.

That's how I feel, anyway. I know there are those who's end vision for the human race seems to be having us all sit in front of the TV while robots do all the work necessary to sustain our physical existance. Well, no thanks. I'll head for the frontier. There's a thought from one of Frank Herbert's books which I consider relevant to both our present and the more degenerate visions of our future:

"It's because there is no Dune there are no Fremen."

Worst Thing

[AyeFly]

They are saying the hurricane could be the worst thing to happen to NASA since the fall of the Soviet Union? I personally think it would be great if they were forced to re-think their strategy...after all, "necessity is the mother of invention"

Re:Damn!

[HeghmoH]

The Russians couldn't keep pace? They put a man into orbit first, they had great space stations up, continuously manned for years on end, long before we dreamed up the crappy ISS, they're the only people currently launching people into orbit on a regular basis. Other than going to the Moon, they've been ahead in every area of manned spaceflight; I would say it is the Americans who can't keep up.

Re:US has bigger problems...

[darkmeridian]

Essentially, the US is living beyond its means. Its deficit is unsustainable in the long term, as is the value of the US dollar. If China or Japan decides to pull the pin, your economy goes down the toilet for years to come.

I'm not worried. If that day comes, we'll just invade you.