Slashdot Mirror
Shuttle Atlantis Docks With International Space Station For the Last Time
The BBC reports, with video, that the shuttle Atlantis "has docked with the International Space Station for the final time. The shuttle has brought a year's supply of food and around two tonnes of other supplies and spare parts to the ISS," where the shuttle will remain docked for at least seven days.
This is my humble request:
Taking stock of the 30 years of the shuttle program. I mean, I would like to know the benefits directly linked to the decades of this program.
The stock should include among other metrics; how much tax payer dollars have been sunk into the program, how else these dollars could have been used, what benefits we've obtained as a nation, any missed opportunities and other benefits if any. Specifically, I would like to see tangible things that can directly be attributed to the presence of the shuttle program.
Here's my take: There is not much we have benefited. I other words, the USA would not be that worse of if the shuttle program never existed.
You are *so* right. With the approximately $200 billion that we spent on almost 30 years of space science, we could have bought: One failed insurance company!
Oh wait, we did. Yeah, given the choice between owning a failed insurance company (AIG in case you hadn't guessed), and contributing 30 years of spaceflight to the world, I think I am going to have to go with the shuttle program on this one.
Here's my take: There is not much we have benefited. I other words, the USA would not be that worse of if the shuttle program never existed.
Tell that to every scientist that watched a space shuttle launch as a child and was inspired to learn. Not all rewards are obvious and tangible.
A shuttle is not just something that you can park in space. Certain elements need to be kept warm. Others need to be kept pressurized. That means the shuttle must be kept running. The shuttle gets its power from fuel cells which "burn" hydrogen and oxygen. The standard shuttle (such as Atlantis) can operate for about ten days. Endeavour and Columbia are the only two shuttles equipped with extended duration fuel tanks. There is a system by which the shuttle can be powered from the space station's power, but Atlantis is not equipped with that system.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!