Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a while

[DarthTom]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

That's simply incorrect.

It's not NASA's fault people want to talk about the Royal family or a dead 3 year old.

Lets discuss this part since the rest is petty disagreements, minutia and not really related to the overall discussion of the end of US manned space flight.

Form your own article they haven't even started building it yet. When has NASA ever stayed on schedule for virtually any manned space program?

I'm sorry man, the agency has a habit [and yes for safety and other reasons] of falling off target of plans.

This isn't necessarily NASA employees fault but simply the way it works here in funding the agency.

"When? Basically, we are still working on our integrated architecture; that includes the space launch system, along with ground systems and other supporting projects in order to put together integrated cost and schedule," he said. "So at this point, we don't have a specific date, although we are working diligently to understand earliest possible test dates within the approach that we are working to lay out."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-2...apsule-for-deep-space-missions/#ixzz1Rtm9IpsV
​

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

When has NASA ever stayed on schedule for virtually any manned space program?

How about the Apollo program?

 

[Squiggy]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

Form your own article they haven't even started building it yet. When has NASA ever stayed on schedule for virtually any manned space program?

Well...they're not scheduled to be building it yet. It's years away.

 

[DarthTom]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

Well...they're not scheduled to be building it yet. It's years away.

This is part of the larger problem IMO that we have here in the US. The Chinese build high speed trains, hydro electric damns and virtually every other large public project in 1/3 the time we can in the US.

 

[trekkiedane]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

Well...they're not scheduled to be building it yet. It's years away.

This is part of the larger problem IMO that we have here in the US. The Chinese build high speed trains, hydro electric damns and virtually ever other large public project in 1/3 the time we can in the US.

If you traded in your freedom for the same kind of despotic regime they have in China I'm sure you could do the same!

 

[Deckerd]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

The Chinese build high speed trains, hydro electric damns and virtually ever other large public project in 1/3 the time we can in the US.

quote unquote.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

And they'll rebuild in 1/3 the time, too!

 

[DarthTom]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

The Chinese build high speed trains, hydro electric damns and virtually ever other large public project in 1/3 the time we can in the US.

quote unquote.

True. The end result of speed is a higher accident/failure rate. The early stages of the US space program was riddled with explosions and failures too.

Our risk adverse culture in the West has had some positive and negative trade offs.

You have to wonder if the Spaniards had the safety requirements we have today would Columbus made it out of the harbor?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

You have to wonder if the Spaniards had the safety requirements we have today would Columbus made it out of the harbor?

No you don't. You really, really don't.

 

[Squiggy]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

Well...they're not scheduled to be building it yet. It's years away.

This is part of the larger problem IMO that we have here in the US. The Chinese build high speed trains, hydro electric damns and virtually ever other large public project in 1/3 the time we can in the US.

It's a different form of government. But, since you've brought it up...

The United States went from it's first flight of anything (Explorer 1) to first manned flight (Freedom 7) in 1190 days. The next phase was our 7th manned flight and the first mission in Gemini 1069 days later.

The time from Freedom 7 to man landing on the moon was 2998 days.

Ignoring the fact that alot of the hard work was already done for them...China's first unmanned Shenzhou test flight was on November 19, 1999. They had their first manned flight 1426 days later with Shenzhou 5.

That's 236 days more than what we needed.

China's 7th flight was on September 25, 2008. 3237 days after the first launch.

3237 days after our first vehicle launch we were a month away from launching our third mission to the moon.

We're now 4257 days since China's first unmanned vehicle launch. At that point in our space program, NASA had welcomed home the 6th and final successful mission to the moon.

You have to wonder if the Spaniards had the safety requirements we have today would Columbus made it out of the harbor?

No you don't. You really, really don't.

I do!

The answer is "yes". He would've left Palos de la Frontera on the Príncipe de Asturias (R-11) and made it to the Dominican Republic in 139 hours, 20 minutes traveling at 26 knots.

He also would've known where he was going.

 

[M'Sharak]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

That'd make a nifty chart.

 

[sojourner]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

^How many times do we have to tell you in this thread that Virgin Galactic has no plans to put people in low earth orbit????

Space ≠Orbit

Nitpicking. Virgin Galactic's own brochure in PDF format essentially describes it that way.

I just took the time to read this pdf. It in no way leads one to believe that low earth orbit is the destination. It quite clearly says that 110 km is the max altitude reached before the craft pitches over and starts to descend. The craft is at no point near orbital velocity.

 

[trekkiedane]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

I just took the time to read this pdf. It in no way leads one to believe that low earth orbit is the destination. It quite clearly says that 110 km is the max altitude reached before the craft pitches over and starts to descend. The craft is at no point near orbital velocity.

Whomever was it that said it something like this: "Outer space is only as far away as you can get in your family car within half an hour -if you were able to drive it vertically."?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

That would have to be a pretty fast car. An hour, maybe.

 

[sojourner]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

Whomever was it that said it something like this: "Outer space is only as far away as you can get in your family car within half an hour -if you were able to drive it vertically."?

Outer space ≠ low earth orbit. or any orbit for that matter.

 

[trekkiedane]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

Whomever was it that said it something like this: "Outer space is only as far away as you can get in your family car within half an hour -if you were able to drive it vertically."?

Outer space ≠ low earth orbit. or any orbit for that matter.

Geospace is the region of outer space near the Earth. Geospace includes the upper region of the atmosphere, as well as the magnetosphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Geospace

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

But like he said, you can be in space without being in orbit. They're two separate things.

 

[trekkiedane]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

^Totally different, I agree. Popping into space is so easy commercial enterprises plan on taking tourists there -orbit, however, is a big boy's game... but this thread has already been through that

ETA: The thing is: you can't be in orbit without being in outer space.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

Well...they're not scheduled to be building it yet. It's years away.

This is part of the larger problem IMO that we have here in the US. The Chinese build high speed trains, hydro electric damns and virtually every other large public project in 1/3 the time we can in the US.

And still have not managed to insure even the most basic things for their citizens such as clean air, drinkable water, rule of law or even basic food safety. There is a reason that the emigration rate out of china for even their upper and middle class citizens is still so high.

Hu and Wen and Xi and Bo can build all the infrastructure projects they want, but at the end end of the day they are only kept in power by the Public Security Bureau and the information control infrastructure.

 

[Lindley]

Re: Final shuttle goes up - US manned missions to space over for a whi

ETA: The thing is: you can't be in orbit without being in outer space.

Actually you can, its just not efficient to try. Outer space doesn't really have an definite boundary, but the generally accepted level of 100km is based on the fact that this round number is close to the altitude at which an airplane would need to be traveling at orbital velocity just to maintain lift. Any lower, and being in orbit means you're traveling faster than you need to just to stay at that altitude.