Space shuttle program extended
 

until at least spring:
NASA delays end of space shuttle program to 2011 | Top AP Stories | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

I wouldn't be surprised if it goes even longer, if the pressure stays on the administration.

Why are they shutting it down to begin with?

1) It's old
2) Obama hates NASA. No, not really, but he hates funding it.

They had a replacement program going, but the shuttles were going to be mothballed years before the replacement could be built. Now, they've cut most of the funding for the replacement program. We were going to be left with riding shotgun in Russian capsules to get people to the space station.

It also stems from the bush administrations effort to put a man on Mars, so they started pulling funds from the shuttle to fund the new program Constellation, which would also be part of the shuttle replacement program.

Basically, NASA is getting cut off at the knees from every direction, and can't maintain a fleet of 30 year old space jalopies.

good to hear!

Except their funding increased. :rolleyes:

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/420990main_FY_201_%20Budget_Overview_1_Feb_2010.pd f

And? I see tiny incremental changes to their total funding, all while they plan to make entire new programs. Anyone wanna vote on how that's gonna work out for them?

They need massive funding changes, like 50% or more. Or they need to shut down completely.

Wow, you're an expert on how their FY2010 and beyond programs are going to work out. They could really use you to run NASA.

This really isn't an 'extension' of the program as no new launches are publicly planned.

they are simply rescheduling these last two launches for a later time date which happens to move the end of the program into next year.

The shuttles are old but they are not past their serviceable lifespan but the vendors that have built most of the components are long gone.

My personal feeling is that the shuttle is a very viable mode of transportation, we should be using it as a model and not abandoning entirely.

Can you imagine the United States of America without a premier space program? This 'depression' is causing us to have to make tough choices - taking away the dreams of a generation is not a choice I would want to make. The space program is essential to our continued innovation - we have gained too much - alternative energy has gained two much (uh, Hydrogen fuel cells?) for us to allow this program to be cast away.

Sure hope that they really do extend the program. We have no replacements and no plan. Why in the world are they doing this?

I see we agree afterall!

:)

The space programs are still intact, and will get the funding that went to the shuttle and Constellation (well, except for the billions going into shutting the program down...). The funding will get redirected to their satellite programs, their science programs, and their education programs. Also, a massive amount of NASA money goes to grants for researches and astronomers across the country working at various labs and universities, all of that funding should be intact.

The other, less talked about reason that the shuttle is being mothballed is that it would cost too much money to retrofit the seats. Americans are now fat, than that includes the astronauts. They simply cannot fit in the seats or through the airlocks anymore.

I think they want to move the ISS-related cargo & crew delivery missions to the private sector (NASA's tossing money their way), and then develop new technical capabilities to enable future manned exploration to other solar system bodies (e.g., Moon, asteroids, eventually Mars).

I heard one of the networks is going to do a reality show where fat astronauts burst their pressure suits during EVAs.

Basically, yes. It's interesting though how they are all but hanging their basket on the private industry, when they were dismissing them as useless a few years ago. SpaceX and the others asked NASA to contribute long ago, and NASA told them to get lost.

The actions and decisions of NASA are very intimately related to the current administrator. They've had some very good ones, and some VERY bad ones (coughcoughGOLDINcough).

I question the ROI of the entire space program. Can anyone explain why we need space shuttles? The rest of the planet seems to be getting along fine without them.

If you want to go that route, please also question the ROI on welfare, "pork" added to almost any bill, and especially the ROI on our retired reps having a full retirement and health care, with YOU and I paying for it.

Joe A

PS next time you need a GPS to get around, thank the space program. Next time you get a weather forcast that allows you to move out of harms way, thank the space program. Next time some intel is gathered using satellites that keeps our country from being harmed or citizens, thank the space program.

The benefits are endless, yet we always seem to have people that use and want the system but do not want to pay for it. Please return to your cave...

I have wondered about the space station. We put a lot of effort and money along with our partners and then we back off. Do I want to depend on Russia to get our guys down?

Some of the more significant technological improvements from the last few decades perhaps? The answer is as near as Google. Considering that NASA is budget dust in the grand scheme of our national budget, the ROI is frankly spectacular.

Because it's obsolete and a huge waste of taxpayer money, that's why.

It's nothing more than another form of welfare.

We have unmanned rockets that can send billion dolllar junk up there at a drastically lower cost.

Look at what "Mother Russia" does with the Ukraine and Poland every Oct/November with natural gas.

They wait until it starts to get cold, then double or triple the price. These two countries have no other source for gas so are over the barrel.

What do you think the Ruskies will do with the pricing for moving things to space for us once the Shuttle is mothballed? They have a very long record of screwing people once they are the only source.

Name them. Please. Tang and velcro don't count.

NASA's budget costs me about $1233 a year. you wanna keep it going? Fine, then you pay my share. Send me a check for $1233 and I'll use it to pay the taxes I have to pay to keep NASA going and I'll keep my mouth shut about it.

HUH? We have all kinds of rockets that can send satellites and junk up there. ALL KINDS! MORE THAN WE'LL EVER USE! In addition to the ones we already have, they's spending huge chunks of money on Ares I.

Don't know where you got the idea thast the space shuttle was the only means we have of putting junk into space.

If you are talking about a taxi service for people to go to and from the space station, blow it off too! Waste of money. There is no reason to spend money sending people up there.

You can bet I do question those things as well, but let's stay focused...

I never said that everything in the history of NASA was a complete waste. What I said was that I question the ROI. How much we spend vs. how much we get in return. Just as with any big government program, there are usually cheaper ways to accomplish the same thing. Chinese satellites and Spaceship1 are examples of folks doing things for a small fraction of what we pay NASA to do. All of the things you mention above, to my knowledge could have been done with satellite/rocketship technology. Why do we need the shuttle again?


Endless benefits? Really? Well you kind of prove my point there. Of course there is no such thing as endless, unless you want to talk about the ways the government wants to spend our money.

Tang was not invented by NASA. It was around before NASA was formed. They made it famous.

Just walk into any hospital and look around. Most of the imaging techology came from NASA. do you have a digital camera. Yep NASA. Do you have a battery powerd drill, yep NASA.

NASAsolutions: Benefits of the Space Program

Fair enough. I read through every example in the "at Home" section of that web page. All of the examples cite the Apollo program or shortly thereafter.

As Janet Jackson would say, "what have you done for me lately?" SmileWavy

Again, can anybody tell me why we need a space shuttle?

Because THE SPACE SHUTTLE IS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!

And you can't fly into space in a Prius.

ROI on Columbus ?

didnot they throw the admiral of the ocean sea in jail
for failing to produce instant ROI

you lot are even more short sighted/thinking
shuttle is but a small step on a long journey
with payoffs unimaginable by your small minds

Thank you Sir!

THIS is why we need some type of manned ship when transporting important cargo to and from the space station:

" Russian Mission Control says an unmanned space capsule bring supplies to the International Space Station has failed in a docking attempt.
The Progress space capsule is carrying food, water, food and other supplies for the orbiting laboratory.
Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin was not immediately available for comment, but his secretary confirmed Russian media reports Friday that the docking had failed.
It was not immediately clear when another docking might be attempted.
The Russian Progress capsules have been a reliable supply system for the space station and their importance will increase with the end of the U.S. space shuttle program. "

The rocket overshot the station from an error.

"dumb" rockets work reasonably well for dropping satellites in orbit, but they are no replacement for manned ships delivering people and goods. If "dumb" ships worked well enough, we'd have a bunch of unmanned ships, trains, trucks and cars all over the place.

We should focus on the oceans and stay out of space...unless we were to put all monkeys into space than thats ok.

Who cares about the oceans, space is far more interesting and noteworthy to me.

We already do!

Just think of all the Prius cars driving around these days? Most of them might as well be unmanned! In fact some of their drivers very well be on this thread!:)

Joe A