They made it home safe and sound

[W5IEI]

http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-astronauts-parachute-land-mission-025744207.html

Good on them.

[K7SGJ]

Absolutely. It's ashame our space program has been cut back so far. But I guess too many people feel it's a waste of $$ that could be used elsewhere. But had it never happened, many of todys technology and conveniences would not exsist.

It good to see Walmart & Apple money being put to good use.:-D

[W4GPL]

Absolutely. It's ashame our space program has been cut back so far.Sorry, more FUD..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Budget

Can show me how "far" our NASA budget has been cut back? We're simply not wasting it on running a taxi service.

[N8YX]

But when ya need a cab...ya need a cab. And don't bank on the good will of the Russians or the Chinese to get you there, either.

Those nations understand the strategic and scientific importance of space - both near-Earth and far - and are actively doing something about it. Remember Reagan's SDI program? I predict the Russians will field a workable spaceborne platform in the next 20 years, and the Chinese will follow with one shortly thereafter. At that point it's game over for the U.S. as a strategic power.

[W4GPL]

Which is exactly why we've contracted SpaceX to be our cab driver. The US will be back to manned space flight in less than 4 years. Did we make the same dire predictions during the 1970s and early 80s when there was no manned space flight and we were banking on a pie in the sky shuttle that never really lived up to its expectations?

Oh and by the way, have you seen the AirForce's military space budget? We're the ones leading the space wars... It's morning in America, some people are just too damned partisan and cynical to see it. I'm highly optimistic about our future, we're smarter and more innovated. We don't need big giant space shuttles to prove that.

[K7SGJ]

Sorry, more FUD..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Budget

Can show me how "far" our NASA budget has been cut back? We're simply not wasting it on running a taxi service.

Please go back and read my post. I said nothing about the $$ spent. Although I have no pesonal data, nor do I wish to resaerch it for you, I can safly say that even if the same $$ were being spent, the buying power would be a lot less. However, that is not where I was going with the GENERAL statement. The space program, at least the one I grew up knowing, was a hell of a lot more than just a "taxi service" as you put it. John Glen, the Gemini and Appolo programs, Hubble, unmanned probes, ISS, a better understanding of the universe, and many others can be found, if you care to do a little research. Granted, it's not for everyone, but it does interest me; a hell of a lot more than all the political bullshit going on, the corruption and greed that is crippling this country, and even what goes on at the ZED; not to mention so much of the other negative shit in the news, and posted here, too.

You might be interested in some of the positive results of the space program, and then again, maybe not. But if you are, Google is your friend. I'll get you startred:

http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/physics-concepts-and-definitions/ten-nasa-inventions1.htm
http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/apollotop10.htm
http://suite101.com/article/practical-applications-of-space-technology-a98927

I'm sure you, just as I, probably don't welcome ALL the discoveries and practical applications directly related to the space program (airport scanners come to mind), but there are clearly many things that touch everyone's life, that can be traced back to the knowledge gained because of the space program, some, even because of the Shuttle Program; and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the communications and tracking used by earthbound TAXI SERVICE could be traced back to mans exploration of space.

[W4GPL]

And you might have missed my point is that we're still innovating and building new/exciting things, it just doesn't also happen to involve the public spotlight of a pretty bright shuttle.

[K7SGJ]

And you might have missed my point is that we're still innovating and building new/exciting things, it just doesn't also happen to involve the public spotlight of a pretty bright shuttle.

Damn, you really have a severe case of tunnel vision going on this morning. Comprehension troubles?

[W4GPL]

Damn, you really have a severe case of tunnel vision going on this morning. Comprehension troubles?Yes.. I R DUMB.. SORRIEZ.

[K7SGJ]

Yes.. I R DUMB.. SORRIEZ.


Spell checkers were discovered on a space shuttle.

[W4GPL]

:lol:

So was Velcrow, how else would I be able to put on my shoes?

[NQ6U]

I can see what both sides of this argument are trying to say—you're both on the same page but different paragraphs. Adam, I agree that the United States needs to remain in space but I see what Jeff is saying as well and I agree with him. What's happening is that NASA has turned over the mundane Earth-to-ISS delivery duties to a private company in order to be able to devote more of it's engineering resources to pure research and unmanned probes to explore the outer reaches of the the Solar System. I do not think this is a bad thing.

[N8YX]

What's happening is that NASA has turned over the mundane Earth-to-ISS delivery duties to a private company in order to be able to devote more of it's engineering resources to pure research and unmanned probes to explore the outer reaches of the the Solar System. I do not think this is a bad thing.
As long as said private company is firmly in partnership with the U.S. and its strategic aims, it's not. But the military should never be without a manned lifter over which it has complete control.

Of course, all of this flies right out the window immediately after the discovery of a gravity nullifier/lift engine which is simple and cheap enough for Joe EveryCompany to acquire and maintain.

[KC2UGV]

:lol:

So was Velcrow, how else would I be able to put on my shoes?

Nuh-uh. Velco was discovered like this:
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Velcro

[W5GA]

One of the more exciting things in the works at NASA. Lets all hope it doesn't need glasses, too.
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

[KB3LAZ]

Bleh! Junk the space program and look for the aliens on the bottom of the ocean. That is where they really are. We dont see spaceships we see flying submarines.

[KC2UGV]

One of the more exciting things in the works at NASA. Lets all hope it doesn't need glasses, too.
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

As a side note to this post:

Did you watch the documentary "Hubble's Amazing Rescue:NOVA"? Fantastic documentary on it.

[W3WN]

Robert A. Heinlein was prescient in many areas. One in which he missed the mark was the start of the Space program; he predicted in his short stories and novellas that private enterprise, not the US government, would first venture into space.

In light of current events, though, he may ultimately prove to be right.

NASA has many problems. One of which was the way that the 'land a man on the moon' program was handled... an almost unlimited budget. They got used to it, so when the inevitable cutbacks came, they didn't react well. Which indirectly explains why you had a Space Shuttle program that was intended to venture to a Space Station that was never built... and I don't mean the ISS, that came later after more budget cuts and lots of compromises.

Another is... well, let's be blunt, manned space craft are dangerous. And they're not exactly off-the-factory-assembly-line vehicles, they are for all practical purposes experimental and custom built air/space craft. What does that mean? Amongst other things, they are can fail and blow up. With passengers on board. Which happened twice; three times if you count the Apollo 1 disaster. The result was an overloading of "safety measures" that became overbearing and overly-costly on the program.

So maybe it's time to take the government out of space exploration. Let the private sector do it -- finance it, take the risks, and reap the rewards.

Who'd ever have thought in 1968 that in 2001, [I]2001: A Space Odyssey would still be a work of speculative fiction?

[K7SGJ]

Good Morning Dave..................

[W5GA]

As a side note to this post:

Did you watch the documentary "Hubble's Amazing Rescue:NOVA"? Fantastic documentary on it.
Quite right, that was superb.

[n2ize]

But when ya need a cab...ya need a cab. And don't bank on the good will of the Russians or the Chinese to get you there, either.

Those nations understand the strategic and scientific importance of space - both near-Earth and far - and are actively doing something about it. Remember Reagan's SDI program? I predict the Russians will field a workable spaceborne platform in the next 20 years, and the Chinese will follow with one shortly thereafter. At that point it's game over for the U.S. as a strategic power.

There is plenty of space exploration going on right now. Matter of fact we are on the frontiers of learning more about planet that are farther out in our solar system and learning about the outer fringes of our solar system via Voyager which was launched decades ago. Just because we're not firing men into space to orbit the earth or land on the moon (been there done that) doesn't mean we are not conducting important research which will tell us far more about what is out there.

[ad4mg]

Mumbling something about a Mars probe, I am... 'Curiosity', anyone?

[N8YX]

Mumbling something about a Mars probe, I am... 'Curiosity', anyone?
We need Mars.

If for nothing more than another dataset regarding extra-terrestrial logistics. As capable as our probes are, they can't take into account certain human factors involved in lunar or Martian exploration.

I'm also betting that as soon as we send a team of astronauts there, Teh Oyal will be discovered in quantities that make those on Earth seem like a drop in the bucket...and more Halliburton contracts shall henceforth be issued... :whistle:

[kf0rt]

http://www.jplegacy.org/jpencyclopedia/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Dinosaurs-on-Mars-262x300.jpg

[WØTKX]

Terraform Mars Now!

[n2ize]

I would strongly advise against sending men to Mars...

http://s2.hubimg.com/u/6060181_f520.jpg

[K7SGJ]

But, but, but, Mars Needs Moms. Do it for the children.


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