RAMI
R.I.P. American Space Program.
The American Space Program died today, when the Space Shuttle Atlantis made its final landing at Kennedy Space Center. This tragic event occurred almost exactly 42 years after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
It could be argued that the American Space Program was born on October 5, 1957, The previous morning, October 4, 1957,which happened to be a day after my 6th birthday, American and the rest of the world woke up to a beep beep beep, emanating from Sputnik 1. The Russians our national enemy, an enemy whose leader several years later stated that they would bury us, had launched a space satellite. America was shocked and humiliated. We need to catch up. The race to space had started.
American’s next defeat in the race for Space occurred on, April 12, 1961, when Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet Cosmonaut was the first man to be launched into space.
The first American in space was Alan B. Shepard who rode a Mercury capsule into Space on May 5, 1961.
America truly raised the stakes on September 12, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy promised the world that an American would walk on the moon by the end of the decade. He said,
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
On July 20, 1969, I was sitting in my family's living room, with my brother and parents, watching on our brand new 21” color T.V., as Neil Armstrong, proclaimed, “That’s One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Mankind” Any American, and probably millions of other old enough to recall, know exactly where they were at that moment.
America, had decisively won the space race. Despite setbacks and tragedies such as Challenger and Columbia, American maintained its lead in Space until this morning.
This morning when Atlantis made its final landing, the American Space program died. The Sputnik nation, has regained the prominence it first held on October 4, 1956.
For those of us, who remember the Sputnik launch, and America’s subsequent achievements, today is a sad day.
Rest in Peace American Space Program.
RAMI
Comments
Space program not dead.
I am sad to see the shuttle go, but the vehicles were fantastically expensive and getting quite old. I am told that in 2-3 years a new vehicle with be flying and they needed the money from the shuttle program to make that happen.
The real culprit is two needless wars we fought, one of which was to keep certain vested interests happy.
Agree
if it hadn't been for those wars, we'd probably have a self sustaining colony on the moon - if we could ever figure out how to get around the dust - and might be on our way to Mars. Wars seem to do that.
Portia
Portia
No, that's not the culprit.
Yes, they were aging... Yes, it did cost a lot to launch. But, you should ask why? The answer lies with so many short sighted decisions made earlier. Decisions made to move jobs around for politicians. Decisions on changing priorities. Decisions on... To a large extent, our space program has been a ship without a consistent course over the last few decades. I have little confidence that the current course will be maintained. Meanwhile, American astronauts will travel to the ISS via Russian capsules.
*sighs*
Anne
To expand on Annette
One of the biggest problems NASA has had is with funding from Congress. No, not the amount, although that has been a very big problem. NASA is funded on a yearly basis, just another line item in the budget. Tell me, how successful will a ten year research program be if there is no way to guarantee the money for the second and following years will be there? Try getting a loan for a house if you have to tell the lenders "I don't have the money to make payments beyond this year". That's where NASA is. How do you hire top researchers if you can only guarantee to pay them for one year? Not only has NASA been forced to try to exist on a miserly budget, what they have accomplished has been squandered more often then not. Funding is reduced or eliminated every year, and the entire direction of the program changes every four years.
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There are plenty of people in this world who think they are wits. They are half right.
Karen J.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
They've just run out of money.
I'm sure things will lift off again in the future.
The space program
With all due respect, the space program has been the biggest pork barrel in American history, excepting the military. I for one am happy to see it go, although the paper down here in Houston is full of attempts to save it.
Think how much good would have been done if the money had been put into feeding hungry people, or providing universal health care, but no it's more important for some yahoo to hit golf balls on the moon.
Now if we can only withdraw our troops from all foreign shores and cut the miitary budget to the bone, we can start taking care of the people of our country, instead of "defense" and aerospace contractors.
Liz
With all due respect
Also, would you desire us to never again support people in need? The first responders to tragedy overseas are very often the US military. Americans have never shirked from sending American servicemen and women into harm's way to help protect and provide search and rescue operations, amongst other things. I apologize if that is not what you meant, but while I don't like everything our government or military does, I also don't want to see the people who are willing to make those sacrifices be left high and dry because of capriciousness.
Samirah M. Johnstone
We got a black eye overseas.
Haiving been Muslim for 5 years before I gave up, I can say with certainty, that inspite of the fact that Arab countries are a can of worms, they do not want outside help. It was a mistake to keep the Shah in power in Iran, and a mistake for us to install Saddam in Iraq, and yet another mistake for us to keep Mubarak in power for so long. Even the nut in Lybia has much more support than we thought.
I have friends in the Military also, and can say with certainty, that most American troops have the highest motives for serving, but our damnable leadership insists on wasting their blood. I was in the Army 66-69 and I can say that Vietnam was a farce and a waste of some very good men.
Gwendolyn
The US Military was a key player in the aid to south east Asia
after the Tsunami hit a few Christmas' ago. And they played a huge role in the initial stages of rescue in Haiti. And there's a reason it's called the Defense Department; no war has been fought on US soil since the Civil War, and the diligence and sacrifice of our men and women in the service continue to guarantee that will be the case long after I'm gone.
While I hate war, I embrace and welcome the work that our men and women in our armed services have done to keep me and my family and the rest of us safe. Thanks, Shannon, for your comment.
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
You are so right, Shannon!
I coulodn't agree more!
Wren
My Thoughts on NASA/Orion/Ares/Allair and the Shuttles....
I had a great reply to this, but out of respect for the rules of this place "A Friendly Place to discuss..." I won't post it.
Please keep political posting to a minimum as to not start a flame war.
Those whom wish to see my thoughts, feel free to visit http://tinyurl.com/3d75vge and comment (If you have a G+ Account) or you can comment via Twitter just direct tweets to @PiggilyTails or mark with hastag #RIPSPACEPROGRAM
-P/KAF/PT
You are right, and I apologize.
This is not the forum to express my views. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, and I promise not to do it again.
Wren
Without the space program ...
... there would be no communications satellites to reach beyond the horizon, no GPS to help us find our way, and no weather satellites to help us keep watch for the hurricanes that would kill thousands of unsuspecting people who couldn't prepare or evacuate. And those aren't even the most obvious benefits of your so-called "pork barrel." Fifty years ago a single computer filled an entire room. Space travel required much smaller and more powerful computers -- which led directly to the development of the microprocessor or computer chip. These chips are now found in personal computers, cars, ovens, clocks, washing machines, DVD players and many other products.
And yet you complain about how much we've "wasted" on the space program, even though NASA's budget has been only one-half of one percent of the total budget of the U.S. government -- the equivalent of pocket change compared with how much this country spends maintaining its military might, let alone how much we already spend on programs like Social Security and Medicare to "take care of the people of our country."
You begrudge us the pittance we've been using to reach for the stars, even though that small investment has brought so many advances and saved countless lives on Earth already. But beside the practical benefits the space program has provided, it feeds the part of us that has always pushed humankind forward -- the thing that drove our ancestors to leave the safety of what they knew and set out to see what lay beyond the next hill. Curiosity compels us, people -- the burning need to know and to understand the universe in which we live has been and always will be within us. That --and the need for adventure!
There are galaxies full of endless wonder out there, and we've barely scratched the surface. Our future lies out there in the Black, and space truly is the final frontier. To sail beyond the sunset is our mission, "to boldly go where no one has gone" is our motto. And you can't take the sky from me ... from any of us who understand that what makes us human is the need to know ... and to go!
So bring on the real space planes to replace the aging shuttles! Bring on the lunar colonies, the Martian colonies, the warp drives, the starships! The space program isn't dead, and it never will be, as long as there are those among us who look up at the sky and see what's next.
"To infinity ... and beyond!"
Randalynn
Don't forget...
... solar panels had been around as a concept since 1883, but the space industry was one of the major drivers for development of both solar panels and high-density non-liquid rechargeable batteries as used in so much of today's tech. Sure, this probably would have happened anyway, just much, much slower. How much has the economy gained (directly and indirectly) in the last 20 years from laptops and mobiles?
This isn't specific to the space industry - anything that pushes the boundaries of technology usually ends up having additive spin-offs into only slightly related areas. I'd rather that sort of research money was spent on space than the military. A quick search on Wikipedia shows for 2010 NASA got 18.7 billion total while Defence's "Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation" was 79.1 billion. I'd be happier if those two numbers were both halfway between their existing values, but maybe that's just me.
In comparison Welfare is 702.7 billion, and Health Care 1.097 trillion.
INTERNET/ARPANET/DARPA/
As another example, What we today know of as the internet was originally "ARPA Net" and was a direct product of DARPA or the "Defese Advanced Research Project Agency" which is a military organization.
-P
Can't say
Where I read it, but in an article about the space program one of it's supporters pointed out that if the NASA budget were given to the welfare programs it would be spent in something like six days. In other words, what was being spent on space exploration is a small drop in a very big bucket. Somebody else can find the reference, I'm sure. I gotta go to bed.
Oops! Randalynn has covered it much better than I ever could. Read her comment, Liz.
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There are plenty of people in this world who think they are wits. They are half right.
Karen J.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
If anyone's seen Transformers 3
It's the Decepticons fault.
Bailey Summers
It was less without Megan Fox.
Of course in T1 she was muted as an actress. In T2 she was much better and I suspect that in a few years she will have appreciation for how hard the director was driving her. He may have been hard on her, even a Hitler, but she did need to be pressed to deliver a good performance.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Don't be so negative!
There are so many reasons for Man to be in space! There are opportunities, and money-hungry, greedy people WILL find a way to exploit that. Privately owned space exploration WILL happen. Never doubt it. Everyone knows that oil has a limited exploitation possibilities. New technology is already reducing demand, and once that technology spreads around the world, those who have made their fortunes from that exploitation will not want to lose their cherished places in the world's money market. They will invest in ways to keep them wealthy. I would bet that there are already projects underway to let them do just that.
Maybe the US Space program has come to the end of its useful life. We need to spend money on much more important things, and let the private sector pick up the yoke of exploration. Maybe we could actually DO something to alleviate hunger and improve education-finally? A lot can be done if we aren't spending the incredibly high amounts of cash it costs to launch a single shuttle. Think about that. We could help SO many people!
In my view, the reality of the situation is this. Wealthy people are going to get wealthier. That's the way it has always been, and there is an incredible amount of potential wealth out there, waiting to be exploited. It will happen, and those who want to really benefit will work to improve their education in ways that can be of use in that exploitation. Engineering, mathematics, psychology, so many people are going to be needed. It IS our future, and those who have prospered in old technology and the "good old days" will NOT make it. Prepare, it's coming.
The American Space Program
The American Space Program isn't dead, the Manned American Space Program is, or at least in a coma. Both NASA and the Air Force will still be sending satellites and probes into space. We didn't have an ongoing manned space program when Voyager 1&2 were launched.
Space Programmes
Very few of the inhabitants west of the Atlantic or in the Antipodes would be where they are if it wasn't for earlier "space exploration" by the Spanish, Portuguese, French, British, Dutch and other Europeans who went to see what they could find on the far side of the horizon.
They went looking for gold or land or spices or because their governments were trying for advantage over the others. Some went for science and some went for religious reasons, either to promote their own particular brand or to escape someone else's.
No doubt the money invested in those ventures could have been spent feeding the poor and a lot of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Americas and Australasia wish the bloody (I mean that literally) Europeans had stayed at home and done good deeds....but we didn't, for better or worse.
Because of that everyone today has access to tomatoes, potatoes, maize and tobacco and the horse. Societies were transformed. There were epidemics. Syphilis ravaged Europe and smallpox and the common cold decimated America.
Our world is what it is today because of that earlier space race.
The Chinese actually had a 70 year start on us with the voyages of Admiral Zheng Ho until short-sighted politicians at home decided that the money could be better spent on more sumptuous palaces and bigger banquets and China withdrew into an isolation and decadence that lasted 500 years until we blasted them out of it.
I believe that the modern space programme is humankind's greatest achievement to date and if we don't continue the Chinese and maybe the Indians will and the future will belong to them.
Others have pointed to the technological benefits that have come out of the exploration of space and many of the spin-offs have changed our world again in the last 50 years, and, who knows, one of the future benefits may be genetic treatments that will allow us to achieve our community's dream of the gender of our choice.
But if we don't try we'll never know....and there will still be the poor to feed,
Joanne