Russian Resupply Crash Could Mean Leaving ISS Empty

astroengine writes "In the wake of the Russian Progress vehicle crash shortly after launch on Aug. 24, a chain of events has been set into motion that could result in the decision not to fly astronauts into orbit. If this happens, the ISS will be temporarily mothballed before the end of the year to avoid landing astronauts during the harsh Kazakh winter."

Comments

grow up, space cadets

[eyenot]

You're stuck on Earth. You're never, ever, going to live on some other planet. It will never happen. You will probably never even live on the Moon. If somebody ever does live on the moon, it's going to be very exclusive and very tight. The Jetsons won't be over for supper. Your life is never going to resemble Lost In Space. Give it up, already. And as for this space station, how irresponsible can people get? America invested so much in this thing and we've basically tipped our hat and stepped out. Now we're not even capable of keeping the thing in orbit because we've scrapped our shuttle program. What are you going to do, space cadets? You planning anything amazing for us? Maybe pulling all your space cadet sticks out of your asses, duct taping them end to end and propping the ISS up that way? And now look, Russia was so hype to step up to the plate because, as you noticed, the ownership of the ISS defaults to Russia if America isn't capable of upkeep. Yet even they can't manage to resupply. Who's it going to default to, now? Buck Rodgers?

It's a fiasco, and all you butt-hurt sci-fi bookworms are to blame. We don't NEED an ISS, we don't NEED space programs, at all, any of us, anywhere, for anything. You're never going to live on Mars. Your responsibilities and your life's consequences here on Earth are real things, not imaginary. Space is never going to be a place to escape to no matter how much money you throw at it.

Tonight: go outside, close your eyes, count backwards from ten, and when you open them I want you to look up at the dark night sky and believe it's nothing but a giant black hole and it's worthless, it's a waste of time and money and the stars might be pretty and all but they aren't full of friends and adventure.

Now grow up.