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T-43 Hours and Counting
An anonymous reader submits "As seen on NASA TV, for the first time in over two years, the countdown clock has started at 6:00 PM EDT for the Wednesday 3:51 PM EDT launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on the first of the return to flight test flights. The launch is not for certain due to weather issues associated with hurricane Dennis. Currently it is estimated for a 70% chance of launch on Wednesday, with the chances lowering later in the week. If you are confused on how T-43 hours equals almost 3 days, perhaps you should read Countdown 101."
You are a fool if you assume that if manned spaceflight is cut off, Congress will just decide to give the rest of the money for robotic spacecraft. They won't. NASA will loose its prestige, and Congress would cut back on the robotic spacecraft missions.
You are also a fool if you assume that if Congress closes down NASA they will automatically divert the funds to feeding the homeless or giving body armor to the troops. Congress doesn't work that way. $17 billion out of $2000 billion will go back into the general account and noone would even notice.
You might also state that the shuttle does not perform any 'exploration' missions. But that would be tunnel-vision. Neither Mercury nor Gemini peformed 'exploration' missions, either. Sometimes you need to build up to a more advanced platform. If NASA wanted to go to the Moon on its first flight it would have been similar to trying to build a nuclear submarine with only wooden ship technology. Engineering platforms are important because you can break up an immensely difficult task into several smaller but achievable tasks over a longer period. Mercury and Gemini showed that a spacecraft could support EVA's, dockings, navigation, etc. Performing all of this on Apollo would have been insane!
So what is the purpose of the Space Shuttle? To build the ISS, of course. The ISS is the very simple version of the spacecraft that will eventually take humans to Mars. It is an engineering platform to determine how we have to build a spacecraft that will allow humans to survive in deep space. It will not be the last space station. The information taken from the ISS will build a more advanced space station closer to the demands needed by the Mars mission spacecraft. After several space stations we will build simple long range spacecraft (like to the L3 and back). Eventually we will perform operations where humans are no longer shielded by the magnetosphere. And then we will go to Mars. From the information from the Moon bases (of several iterations) we will build will help us determine how to build a Mars base. Then we will conduct 'exploration'.
Seems inefficient compared to robotic spacecraft? In a way. But humanity is not just about science. Sometimes science drives us to achieve technology. Sometimes its the other way around. They coexist. It is the destiny of humanity to conquer Mars. It is the destiny of the US to lead the exploration of space. Whether you like it or not, Congress will see to it that this is always true. If China, Japan, ESA, etc. ever appear to be surpassing us in space technology, there will be a boost to NASA's budget so that we don't loose national prestige. Accept it. Robotic spacecraft will supplement human spaceflight, but never replace it.
If someone at NASA is seriously stupid enough to worry about launching on the 13th then NASA does indeed have a problem - hiring stupid people.