Space Shuttles almost Ready to Re-Launch

stagmeister writes "CNN and Space.com are reporting that the Return to Flight Task Group, the overseeing committee that determines when the Space Shuttles can go back into space, has reported that the only items blocking the Shuttles are issues 'related to tank debris, orbiter hardening and tile repair.' They plan to re-meet in later this month to finalize their decision. However, 'NASA has made clear it intends to resume shuttle flights with the repair capabilities it has in hand without knowing for sure whether they would work in an emergency.' Would you want your children flying a space shuttle that hasn't been properly beta-tested?"

Comments

Heck Yeah

[OS24Ever]

Would you want your children flying a space shuttle that hasn't been properly beta-tested?"

Screw the kids, I myself would climb aboard in a heart beat.

Did you see Contact? Remember the scene where Jody Foster sees something outside for the first time and they morph the childs face & voice onto her's as she describes what she is seeing?

I'd risk my life to see that, because I know we won't be living on the moon like I thought we would be in the 80s when I was in Jr. High.

Re:Heck Yeah

[adrianmonk]

I'd risk my life to see that, because I know we won't be living on the moon like I thought we would be in the 80s when I was in Jr. High.

OK, like it or not, you've triggered a story:

When my sister was in Jr. High (which would've been 1979-1982 if I've done the math right), she had this woefully out of date science textbook. It had all kinds of crazy and laughable things in it, but the pinnacle was a little sidebar on space travel, which talked about the challenges man faced and what we had accomplished. The last sentence was intended to inspire students to dream about ever greater achievement and exploration. It read, "Who knows, someday man may even reach the moon."

Hey, well, good to know that education is such a priority that the powers that be are willing to spring for a new set of books every now and then.

Re:The Only Things?

[RhettLivingston]

"the shuttle is too dangerous to operate"

Considering that we've only lost about 1 in 50 shuttles, I'd say its an extremely safe machine for what it does. The losses of ships in the early settling of the new world were far greater than 1 in 50. If our ancestors had felt 1 in 50 was too dangerous, the new world would never have been found.

If the shuttle were designed to provide a one way trip to orbit, I'd bet you could find plenty of takers.

want your children flying a space shuttle that ...

[WindBourne]

that hasn't been properly beta-tested?

Quite Honestly, I would go up in a heart beat. Those shuttles have been tested through and through. Now what is happening is the nit picking over every little detail. I would guess that my 3 year old nissan quest is no where near as safe as that ship is.

Re:The Only Things?

[Wyatt Earp]

Yep. People need to look at early exploration like Magellan

On August 10, 1519, the fleet of five ships under Magellan's command left Seville and traveled south from the Guadalquivir River to San Lucar de Barrameda at the mouth of the rivers, where they remained more than five weeks. Spanish authorities were wary of the Portuguese admiral and almost prevented Magellan from sailing, but on September 20, Magellan set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with 270 men.

18 men returned to Seville with the Victoria in 1522

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan#Th e_circumnavigation

Bahh, put it up and stop being pussies

[aCapitalist]

Guess what...more people are going to die going to, coming from, and in space...surprise surprise.

I'm sick of this nancy boy, nurse ratchet mentality where there can be no risks in anything and when an accident does happen we have to spread the blame as much as possible. And I'm talking about society in general, not space flight.

Re:I did, and it's still a waste.

[NanoGator]

"The fact remains that it's a big dead rock. There's a big dead rock a lot closer and we stopped visiting that one because we realized there really wasn't any point in it."

Unlike our moon, the big red dead rock could potentially be a new colony for us. You may not care about that, but I personally enjoy the idea that man kind would no longer risk being completely obliterated by one nuclear war.

Re:Definition of a non-story:

[Rei]

some kind of foam/coating which disapated heat like a madman

It did not. It was an insulator, not a dissipator (and there are much better insulators out there). There is a huge difference. On the skin of your craft, you must radiate the heat away; there is no concievable way that you could simply insulate from the orbital energy that you build up.

Shuttle tiles are still the best thermal radiators in existence. The reason is that they use a ceramic which is a good radiator on its own, and have it be made of fine threads in a very porous style so that it has a huge surface area.

this sentence is missing something

Yeah, I noticed that after I posted. It should have continued "signed off as well".

still only on the first gen of a partially re-usable orbital launcher

Well, it has changed a lot since its original form, but yes. However, look at the development cost of the shuttle in modern dollars. Few military projects have that sort of budget (although a few do...). Then look at how much money the US military gets in comparison to NASA (a very sad fact, in my opinion). It's no real surprise :P