The Shuttle and American Space Program - A New Strategy

.


SouthAmerica: This evening only 24-hour before the Shuttle lift off and they are saying in the news that pieces of the Shuttle are coming off and the Shuttle is losing more tiles from its skin.

I would suggest that NASA use some "CRAZY GLUE" to keep together this 1970"s flying museum piece of technology, since it would be very embarrassing for the United States if another Shuttle disintegrates in the sky for the entire world to see it.

Most people don't want to drive a car that is 25 years old, because they might be unsafe in the highway, and might not be reliable.

How come NASA still flying these flying aircraft museums, when they need crazy glue to keep it together?

Maybe they forgot that they are not sending monkeys into space - they are actually sending human beings inside these things - I guess you can call the astronauts the new American Kamikazes.

All we can do at this point it is to wish good luck for the American Kamikazes.

And hope that somehow they manage to return alive from this mission.


If NASA does not have a nickname for this current Shuttle mission, then they should consider calling it: "Mission Crazy Glue."



Note:

Many of the members of this message board are too young to remember, but in the 1970's they had an add on our local television in the New York metropolitan area of a glue that they claimed it could glue just about anything together - and the name of the glue was: "Crazy Glue."

NASA should buy a large supply of “Crazy Glue” to keep the Shuttle together – at this point that could be considered a smart move by NASA.


Regarding the date


After two Shuttles has blown up into pieces – If a person is superstitious usually the number 13 is associated with bad luck – Then why NASA has programmed the new flight of the Shuttle for July 13?


.

 

You need to get your facts straight. What came off was a window cover that a worker dropped during removal. The cover struck one of the OMS pods on the way down but caused no damage and is not an impact to the success or safety of the mission.

 

.

Burtakus: You need to get your facts straight. What came off was a window cover that a worker dropped during removal.


***


SouthAmerica: How many times they are going to change the date for the lift off of the Shuttle?

It seems to me that NASA it is having a lot of problems with these old machines.

How many more Shuttles has to blown up on the way up or on re-entry before NASA realizes that these machines already have reached the end of their useful lives.

I am not a rocket scientist but common sense tells me that these old Shuttle machines may have reached the point of its usefulness that each additional lift off carries with it a very high risk that something will go wrong because of the age of the machines.

The American media should not refer to the people who are going into space in the current Shuttle mission as astronauts – the media should refer to them as the new American Kamikazes since we don’t know if they will come back alive from the mission.

Flying these old Shuttles it seems to me it can be considered flying a suicide mission.

.

 

As long as there are safety concerns they will change the date. They could have launched today but unfortunately there is such a fear of risk that NASA lives under from the media and people like you that do not understnad that going to space is not like hopping in the car and driving down the freeway. That is not to say that the Shuttles are not showing their age but then what are you going to replace it with. Nothing currently exists to perform the mission that the shuttle does. Even with the failures, the Shuttle is the most reliable and safest launch vehicle ever fielded. There is also no shortage of people wanting a ride. It is inherent that with the job comes a certain level of risk that is a bit higher than siting behind the keyboard typing bullshit.

 

Ain't it the truth.

I think NASA is pretty amazing. Have they had screw ups? Of course. But in some 40 yrs or so, a remarkably small number of failures and fatalities in an endeavor that surely must be among the most dangerous and difficult imaginable.

They just sent a rocket the size of a refrigerator some 8 bigrillion miles into the universe to crash into a meteor the size of Manhattan that was traveling some 8 bilgrillion miles an hour. I mean, sheesh, to my ordinary feeble little brain, that is just absolutely astounding! And we think trading is difficult!

No less amazing is the fact that not only can they send these brave astronauts up into that endless vastness, but that they've only had a very few real failures bringing them back in over 4 decades. Great risk and great accomplishments sometimes require great sacrifice and end in great tragedy. Geniuine criticism is one thing, NASA certainly ain't perfect, but petty cheap shots like the one in this thread by SA are the easiest thing in the world from ignorants that take such amazing feats by very courageous, dedicated people for granted. Why doesn't this chump build his own shuttle, if he thinks he can do a better job? I mean, it ain't rocket-science.

Oh wait, yes it is.

H

 

ive seen that puppy zipping towards outerspace while coming home from UF to miami one brisk clear afternoon and it was a beauty of a site...most cars pulled off the road just to witness this.....

 

.


Burtakus: That is not to say that the Shuttles are not showing their age but then what are you going to replace it with. Nothing currently exists to perform the mission that the shuttle does. Even with the failures, the Shuttle is the most reliable and safest launch vehicle ever fielded.

It is inherent that with the job comes a certain level of risk that is a bit higher than siting behind the keyboard typing bullshit.


********


hcour: I think NASA is pretty amazing. Have they had screw ups? Of course. But in some 40 yrs or so, a remarkably small number of failures and fatalities in an endeavor that surely must be among the most dangerous and difficult imaginable.

NASA certainly ain't perfect, but petty cheap shots like the one in this thread by SA are the easiest thing in the world from ignorants that take such amazing feats by very courageous, dedicated people for granted.


**********


SouthAmerica: Here is my ignorant and bullshit opinion:

You can say the same thing about a lot of major American corporations and technology, but living in the past does not help the US in the future.

I just see a bunch of justification to keep things as they are and not new ideas as to what NASA should be doing to move into the future.

I hear:

1) This is the best we have today, and does not matter that it is technology from over 30 years ago.

2) We don’t have anything better to replace with it,

3) Let’s keep flying these old museum pieces until every one of them has blown up into pieces – to maximize their usage - Great risk and great accomplishments sometimes require great sacrifice and end in great tragedy.

The world has been frozen in time, and no other country in the world is moving forward with space technology.

Let’s live in the past as long as we can, since we can’t afford to invest in the technologies of the future.


********


SouthAmerica: As the United States spend $ 100’s of billions of dollars fighting lost causes such as Iraq and Afghanistan – China spend their money wisely in the technologies of the future including advances in space technologies. (And today China has the money to finance the space technologies of the future, and they have the brainpower to do it as well.)

In the United States in the meantime let’s keep the space program frozen in the 1970’s, and let’s keep flying the Shuttle – as long as NASA is able with the help of a lot of band-aid to liftoff one of these old obsolete machines.

And let’s all be happy, and in La La Land, with the great progress being made in American space technologies.

Sweet dreams, until some day Americans will wake up and will have a reality check with the progress of space technologies developed by the Chinese. – And that is no bullshit.

.

 

I'm looking forward to the day when we can get Chinese takeout in space. Some potential menu items:

1. Crab Rang-moon
2. Sunspot Stickers
3. Sauteed Pork with Black Hole Sauce
4. Moo Goo Gai Planet

 

Poor Ricardo -- a loser who hates America, especially on rally days.

 

Yeah, I heard one of them say that the other day, I think it was Tues. I forget his name, I think it was Bob, something...

H