Shuttle Atlantis Finally In Orbit

Klaidas writes "After delays, the shuttle Atlantis has finally been launched today as expected. NASA reports: 'The shuttle Atlantis is in orbit, headed for a challenging new phase in the construction of the International Space Station. Commander Brent Jett and his five crewmates will install a new 17-ton segment of the station's truss backbone, adding a new set of giant solar panels and batteries to the complex. Three spacewalks are planned.'"

Comments

Its been a while since I complained about stories.

[AtariDatacenter]

...but isn't 10:36pm a little late for a story called, "Shuttle Atlantis Finally in Orbit"? You'd think it took 12 hours to get up there or something!

Re:tag = pointless

[Rei]

In general, ISS's lifespan is more dependent on funds to maintain it than on the actual lifespan of its parts. We're looking at reboost costs, crew and supply delivery/waste removal costs, etc . Some parts will wear out, but in general, ISS is not expected to structurally fail until we let it reenter the atmosphere. I believe it is expected to be 1.3B$/yr, and we've only budgetted $13B (ten years). Many of the modules have lifespans of 30+ years, and as we see on (still operating) Spirit and Opportunity (and many other probes), the real, physical lifespan may well be much longer.

I really hope we don't do the whole Skylab thing again. "Okay, we've burned a ton of money and fixed all of the glitches. Lets let it burn up now!"

Re:tag = pointless

[dclatfel]

I wouldn't call it more pointless than the war in Iraq. That's pretty damn pointless. But clearly - the value in the space station, and probably the space program in general isn't from it's direct research value, but from the spinoff from it. Here's what I think the indirect benefits are:

1) Pumping large amounts of money into defense contractors - particularly important for those contractors during peacetime. FWIW - I say take the 100's of billions of dollars we're pumping into Iraq, and divert it to NASA. Then you'd see one heck of a manned space program.
2) All of the spinoff technology that come from doing such innovative things. Need I mention integrated circuits, advances in lightweight composites, Tang or the Nintendo Powerglove? Come on, where would we be without our Tang?
3) National pride. Critics will argue the ephemerality of this one, but I would argue that it has real measurable effect. National pride is a factor in both the perception of America in the eyes of the rest of the world and maybe even our own perception of ourselves. Both of these are ultimately, in my eyes, good for America doing business in a world economy.
4) Finally, the longest range effect (but maybe most important) is the increase in students pursuing science and engineering education. In fact, it probably translates to great numbers of students pursuing higher education in general. And this, I would argue, has the potential to be the biggest and most lasting effect for our economy.

Anyway - just IMHO.