Discovery's last flight

[Camino LS6]

Begins with a beautiful liftoff.

[Intrepidation]

A solemn, launch to be sure. Wish I could have been there.

[Robert Hall]

Interesting..I see the last launch for the Atlantis is scheduled for my birthday...cool. I wonder if they will play the song 'The Final Countdown' at the launch.

I went to see a couple shuttle launches back in the '80s, saw the Columbia and Challenger launch..it's quite an impressive sight to behold.

[Camino LS6]

Two more launches, and I'd like to see one of them.

Never been.

[Turbojett]

I'd like to too. I've never seen a shuttle launch in person either, and I'd love to see that.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Turbojett

[Drew Dowdell]

I think we need to reinvest into the space program..... looking around at some of the $h! we pull on each other on this planet and the way we disregard facts, our only hope is taking a group of only the smartest of us and starting over somewhere.

[z28luvr01]

Interesting..I see the last launch for the Atlantis is scheduled for my birthday...cool. I wonder if they will play the song 'The Final Countdown' at the launch.

I went to see a couple shuttle launches back in the '80s, saw the Columbia and Challenger launch..it's quite an impressive sight to behold.

I'll always remember Discovery as being the shuttle that took the ball after the Columbia and Challenger tragedies - the one that sort of symbolized the space program rising from the ashes.

[Z-06]

Two more launches, and I'd like to see one of them.

Never been.

I have an air mattress.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Begins with a beautiful liftoff.

Edited February 25, 2011 by GMTruckGuy74

[Intrepidation]

Wish there was a larger version of that photo.

[Camino LS6]

I think we need to reinvest into the space program..... looking around at some of the $h! we pull on each other on this planet and the way we disregard facts, our only hope is taking a group of only the smartest of us and starting over somewhere.

YES!

[CSpec]

YES!

http://www.spacex.com/

http://www.virgingalactic.com/

[Camino LS6]

Depending on commercial entities for our future in space is about a century too early.

[Drew Dowdell]

The market will handle it.

[CSpec]

The market will handle it.

Yup! NASA is a bloated Cold War relic that will slowly turn into a grant-providing entity for nimble, low cost private firms. Noted right wing extremist President Obama has gotten this ball rolling.

[z28luvr01]

So does anyone here have any insight on the shuttle replacement? I keep reading 2014 as the target date for the maiden voyage, but not too much in the way of technical details.

NASA is primarily a research avenue and should be continuously charged with pushing the boundaries of our knowledge of things outside our atmosphere. It's really a useful tool for those of us that like to learn stuff. Once space travel to, say, the ISS becomes old hat and affordable by people other than celebrities and the infinitely wealthy and all risks and concerns can be addressed, I can see private companies springing up to offer trips to and from space. I could even see commercial airlines stepping up to the plate. Like Camino said, though, I think we've got quite a ways to go before that happens.

[Intrepidation]

The NASA planned replacement was canceled.

[CSpec]

I can see private companies springing up to offer trips to and from space. I could even see commercial airlines stepping up to the plate. Like Camino said, though, I think we've got quite a ways to go before that happens.

Uh, what? This is already happening:

http://www.virgingalactic.com/

[z28luvr01]

Awesome!!!! And at the bargain basement price of $200,000 I can't afford not to go.

[Intrepidation]

Uh, what? This is already happening:

http://www.virgingalactic.com/

I've seen that. I actually think its a very good and much more efficient design for shuttling people to space. They still need a shuttle for hauling supplies and large cargo to space though.

Problem with it is that it only gets into sub orbit. So it couldn't, say, doc with ISS.

[CSpec]

It will take some time for the price to come down, but not 100 years. Imagine discussing the possibility of 55" flat screen TVs in modest living rooms with someone in 2001.

[Satty]

Only people who can afford the $200,000 price of admission are worthy anyways, right? The markets have deemed them best at acquiring money, therefore they're the best mankind has to offer, therefore they should be the ones to colonize space.

[Drew Dowdell]

I can't wait to hear about Paris Hilton's scientific contribution on her space flight...... should be fascinating when she looks out the window toward the sun and mutters "That's hot!"

[PONTIAC06]

I was there for the Discovery launch in March of '09...it was really awesome, so I had to watch yesterday's launch. Sad to see STS coming to an end, but it's also cool to see that GM's Robonaut2 is going to the ISS finally.

[Camino LS6]

It will take some time for the price to come down, but not 100 years. Imagine discussing the possibility of 55" flat screen TVs in modest living rooms with someone in 2001.

Not at all what I was talking about.

Cost isn't the factor I was making reference to with my assertion that reliance on private industry is a century early.

We have barely taken the first baby-steps into the infinity of space. At this point, we can't even conceive of all of the potential it holds for our future.

Right now, it is critical that we forge ahead without any regard for profit in the monetary sense. Space exploration is bigger than such pedestrian concerns - it is about our potential as a species.

You won't often hear me call for government to lead the charge in human endeavors, but this is one such case. Some things simply can't be done when the base motive of profit is the only driver.

The aspirations of humankind are balanced in a very real way on our ability to explore space - it is how we move from the finite to the infinite.

There is no greater commons than space, we need to view it as such.

I support commercial ventures in space wholeheartedly, but they will never be an adequate substitute for NASA or its progeny.

[FAPTurbo]

I think shuttle technology can be handled by the private sector for the time being. Let them develop better efficiencies, and then NASA can pick the vehicle that is best suited to the job later on. Meanwhile, satellite technology is what is really driving exploration. We just recently discovered several new planets in the 'habitable zone' thanks to the Kepler satellite. Automated robots do the cheaper than humans, and can be manipulated almost as well.

[Camino LS6]

Human nature, and human aspirations, require a human presence.

[CSpec]

You won't often hear me call for government to lead the charge in human endeavors, but this is one such case. Some things simply can't be done when the base motive of profit is the only driver.

The Richard Branson profit motive part works for recreational spaceflight for tourists, and hopefully one day for regular commercial flights as the crafts can go much faster. The more abstract science-y research-y stuff with no concrete profit opportunity will still be publicly funded. NASA will administer grants to private companies, which is how much (if not most) government research is carried out. NASA is a bureaucratic and bloated mess--winding it down to some grant experts who fund energetic and innovative private firms seems like an improvement, no?

[Camino LS6]

You won't often hear me call for government to lead the charge in human endeavors, but this is one such case. Some things simply can't be done when the base motive of profit is the only driver.

The Richard Branson profit motive part works for recreational spaceflight for tourists, and hopefully one day for regular commercial flights as the crafts can go much faster. The more abstract science-y research-y stuff with no concrete profit opportunity will still be publicly funded. NASA will administer grants to private companies, which is how much (if not most) government research is carried out. NASA is a bureaucratic and bloated mess--winding it down to some grant experts who fund energetic and innovative private firms seems like an improvement, no?

No, no it doesn't.

All of that should take place subordinate to bold exploration. The history of the space program shows a grand display of advances in technologies that could not have happened without it. It has spurred the growth of countless industries and thus repaid us many times over.

Current NASA policy is unforgiveable, and it's current boss needs to be given the boot.

NASA is pointless when it isn't bold.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Cool iPhone video of the liftoff from a commercial airline flight:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20110227/tr_yblog_upshot/space-shuttle-seen-from-above

[Intrepidation]

Absolutely stunning. The joke the pilot made was pretty good too.

[CSpec]

You won't often hear me call for government to lead the charge in human endeavors, but this is one such case. Some things simply can't be done when the base motive of profit is the only driver.

The Richard Branson profit motive part works for recreational spaceflight for tourists, and hopefully one day for regular commercial flights as the crafts can go much faster. The more abstract science-y research-y stuff with no concrete profit opportunity will still be publicly funded. NASA will administer grants to private companies, which is how much (if not most) government research is carried out. NASA is a bureaucratic and bloated mess--winding it down to some grant experts who fund energetic and innovative private firms seems like an improvement, no?

All of that should take place subordinate to bold exploration. The history of the space program shows a grand display of advances in technologies that could not have happened without it. It has spurred the growth of countless industries and thus repaid us many times over.

Like what?

[Camino LS6]

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html