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The return of the Discovery shuttle

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Except they're being jerks this time and Edwards isn't open to the public this time so the public can't watch it land if it has to land there due to bad weather in Florida.
 
Sholmes said:
But Bush said we're going to mars....:(
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We are. But not on the shuttle. On a related note...

OLYMPUS MONS—President Bush, who in 2004 announced his desire for a manned mission to Mars, was acquired by a prominent Martian zoo Monday. "The President Bush shall have every comfort of home," said an unknowable Martian intelligence whose name is unfathomable to the human mind. "He shall have his Oval Office, his baseball, and simulated humans from his natural habitat, and we shall watch him most closely, for he is adorable sitting at his desk." Zookeepers on the Red Planet hope Bush will mate with the other Earth mammal in the facility, a northern white rhino.
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God bless the Onion.

http://www.theonion.com/nib/index.php?issue=4131&nib=3
 
Shuttle or not, another US space flight disaster will see a loss in the public's interest in NASA and will result in budget cuts for them. The shuttle will be sacked and it will take many years of R&D to develop a new vehicle for space flight on such a limited budget.
 
I'm unsure that going to Mars will be any more beneficial than building a permanent base on the moon. If done properly it could encourage corporations to look to build resorts and the like in space. The only thing that's really going to push forward space flight is getting more 'average joes' into space.
 
olimario said:
Shuttle or not, another US space flight disaster will see a loss in the public's interest in NASA and will result in budget cuts for them. The shuttle will be sacked and it will take many years of R&D to develop a new vehicle for space flight on such a limited budget.
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Bush has mandated that the current shuttle be EOL'd in five years, so it's not gonna be on them, for sure.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Bush has mandated that the current shuttle be EOL'd in five years, so it's not gonna be on them, for sure.
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He wants to EOL the current system without the replacement being built and ready for flight operations? Wouldn't it make sense to phase out the current system while phasing in the new one as opposed to killing one while the other is still basically on the drawing board?
 
There will be no phasing and there will be a considerable amount of time between space vehicles. Part of my father's job right now is finding a way to help Shuttle engineers keep their jobs during the R&D period where they would normally be sacked.

And with the small budget NASA has now, moon bases and Mars travel will be much further away than Bush thinks.
 
Phoenix said:
He wants to EOL the current system without the replacement being built and ready for flight operations? Wouldn't it make sense to phase out the current system while phasing in the new one as opposed to killing one while the other is still basically on the drawing board?
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That would indeed make sense. But that is naturally not what W mandated. The directive came right after Discovery went down and was very knee-jerk.
 
Manned space flight is pointless, imo.

I know a lot of people who have worked on the NASA rovers that are here at my university, and I've seen what the Jet Propulsion Laboratories can do. The future is robots.

Imagine one day launching thousands of probes into space at once and them all flying off in different directions. Taking pictures along the way and carrying our legacies outwards. Space exploration lends itself to automation at the stage we're at.

Sending a man to mars is nothing but a milestone. A robot could do everything a person could do and more. Hell, with enough work, we could dispatch a series of robots to create habitable domes on Mars long before we got there.

The future is robots!
 
fugimax said:
Manned space flight is pointless, imo.

I know a lot of people who have worked on the NASA rovers that are here at my university, and I've seen what the Jet Propulsion Laboratories can do. The future is robots.

Imagine one day launching thousands of probes into space at once and them all flying off in different directions. Taking pictures along the way and carrying our legacies outwards. Space exploration lends itself to automation at the stage we're at.

Sending a man to mars is nothing but a milestone. A robot could do everything a person could do and more. Hell, with enough work, we could dispatch a series of robots to create habitable domes on Mars long before we got there.

The future is robots!
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El wrongo
A man on Mars right now could have done 1000x more work than the rover did. If we sent men to Mars we would be able to explore areas where we can't land a rover.

The future in which a robot can do anywhere close to what a human can do as far as space research goes is VERY FAR OFF.
 
fugimax said:
Manned space flight is pointless, imo.

I know a lot of people who have worked on the NASA rovers that are here at my university, and I've seen what the Jet Propulsion Laboratories can do. The future is robots.

Imagine one day launching thousands of probes into space at once and them all flying off in different directions. Taking pictures along the way and carrying our legacies outwards. Space exploration lends itself to automation at the stage we're at.

Sending a man to mars is nothing but a milestone. A robot could do everything a person could do and more. Hell, with enough work, we could dispatch a series of robots to create habitable domes on Mars long before we got there.

The future is robots!
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Robot can't write what it sees. It can't experience Mars. It can only take pictures and samples.

They should have sent a poet.
 
fugimax said:
Manned space flight is pointless, imo.

I know a lot of people who have worked on the NASA rovers that are here at my university, and I've seen what the Jet Propulsion Laboratories can do. The future is robots.

Imagine one day launching thousands of probes into space at once and them all flying off in different directions. Taking pictures along the way and carrying our legacies outwards. Space exploration lends itself to automation at the stage we're at.

Sending a man to mars is nothing but a milestone. A robot could do everything a person could do and more. Hell, with enough work, we could dispatch a series of robots to create habitable domes on Mars long before we got there.

The future is robots!
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Agreed at this point it would make more since to launch specialized rovers to Mars that could do the exact something that a person could do, if he were there. It's far too expensive and risky at this point to try and get a man to Mars when we can do the same thing, cheaper with automated explorers.



StrikerObi said:
Robot can't write what it sees. It can't experience Mars. It can only take pictures and samples.

They should have sent a poet.
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What a bunch of BS and sentimental clap trap. All I care about is the make up of the planet and what it used to be like before and what would be necessary to make it so that it could one day support life. All of which robots can tell us far cheaper than sending a man there at the moment. Fuck a poem.
 
El wrongo
A man on Mars right now could have done 1000x more work than the rover did. If we sent men to Mars we would be able to explore areas where we can't land a rover.
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Right now, yes. If we could fly a guy there right this second, he could possibly do more than a rover. You have to think about policy and mission timing however.

The first man on mars trip will be, imo, very similar to the first man on the moon trip. Get off the vessel, hit some rocks, bounce around a bit, then come home. There's a lot of information NASA needs that it doesn't have to have people stay there for any substantial amount of time.

A robot however, as the current rovers have shown, can touch down and drive around until they literally die.

Now, figure in the mission time for a manned mission (5 years roundtrip), the number of years we are from launching such a mission (10? 15?), and the return mission to actually start doing substantial things (5 more years? 10?).

Now that's 15-20 years before we really could get a man on mars for a significant period of time. And you may not know much about robotics, but the pace at which things are advancing is quite amazing. In 15-20 years we will have autonomous robots capable of building entire structures with no human interaction. (I can point to research/tests if you want). This is perfectly suited for mars, and will allow a makeshift "base" to be ready before man ever gets there.

When we get to *this* stage, then it's smart to send someone...but not now.
 
Robot can't write what it sees. It can't experience Mars. It can only take pictures and samples.

They should have sent a poet.
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We should see video and audio next time if that makes you feel any better. ;)

Besides, a poet would decide to make some kind of statement by not coming back. :)
 
But the entire 'go to mars' R&D can't center around what we think robot technology might be like in 20 years. It has to go with the human constant.
 
But the entire 'go to mars' R&D can't center around what we think robot technology might be like in 20 years. It has to go with the human constant.
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It's not what we *think* it's going to be like...it's what it *will* be like.

Like I said, some of this stuff is working now in a primitive form.

The only reason to send a human is because they will most likely get there and work the same way they did when they left.
 
This mission has really got me interested in Space again.

Congratulations are in order for the crew of Discovery & all at NASA for a totally sucessfull mission.

Good luck for re-entry, although I doubt you'll need it.
 
FYI, NASA just gave a "no-go" for the scheduled landing attempt due to weather.

They have another opportunity an hour later, and a few more chances after that.
 
olimario said:
El wrongo
A man on Mars right now could have done 1000x more work than the rover did. If we sent men to Mars we would be able to explore areas where we can't land a rover.

The future in which a robot can do anywhere close to what a human can do as far as space research goes is VERY FAR OFF.
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A man...or a monkey! I like the idea of sending a monkey over. Bush perhaps? :P

Seriously, monkeys would be great because if it did find other intelligent life...they'd be like, "How'd this dumbass create a spacecraft?".
 
I think what NASA needs to do is make a shuttle or something that isn't so fragile. I mean just a little foam hitting the fuel tank caused it to come crashing down. We need something that is STRONG!
 
Synbios459 said:
I think what NASA needs to do is make a shuttle or something that isn't so fragile. I mean just a little foam hitting the fuel tank caused it to come crashing down. We need something that is STRONG!
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They're going back to capsules.
 
olimario said:
But the entire 'go to mars' R&D can't center around what we think robot technology might be like in 20 years. It has to go with the human constant.
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How about they send humans, but the humans take a few robots along to leave behind after they've jumped around a bit. Everyones a winner!
 
Ruzbeh said:
Get back on topic you whores!!!

The landing has been delayed.

Uh oh... Uh Oh... UH OH!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/08/08/space.shuttle/index.html
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Yes, because of weather and it was pretty much expected.

They did say they will NOT land at Edwards because that would cost a lot more money and also rule out a mission next month because of the post-Columbia rules that state they need a backup orbiter in case of a rescue mission, and Discovery serves that role now.
 
Engine burn in 20 mins. I will be glued to NASA TV. ISS will trail in orbit, we will hopefully be able to see the plasma trail live from the cams on the station. Tune in, suckers!
 
Burger said:
Another question. How does the shuttle get from Edwards to Cape Canaveral?
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Epiggy.jpg

Hence the cost increase if they land at Edwards. :)
 
I have a question about the shuttles. I get that they launch them from as close to the equator as they can because thats where its easiest to escape earths gravity, but why dont they just build a reallllllllly tall platform to launch from so they dont need so much fuel?

Or build some kind of magnetically powered sky lift to launch stuff into the atmosphere that way.
 
Holy shit I can't believe I've never seen that. Thanks for the pics. I probably have seen that at some point. But wow! Thats cool. Someone post that "I'm blown away" pic now :)

Space Elevators are a possibility, at least in theory are they not ?
 
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