This is not good if an employee speaks out like this , and reading the article he is doing so out of genuine concern . In my opinion the best gift America has given the World was space exploration and the world owes America a thank you for this . I am concerned that such a programme will fall into irreversible disrepair because will mean the end of the US space programme . What is $150 billion to a $5 trillion economy ?
Nothing... unless it is going to one place and being wasted. $150 billion spent on our public schools would solve many of the problems that plague it and make it the laughing stock of the industrialized world.
I fully support the idea behind our space program. We need it, its necessary to the advancement and survial of the human race. I do, however, have a problem with our shuttles. They are crutches that keep NASA standing while its legs waste away from disuse.
GIFT?....you mean the fukers spend that amount on theirevl fukin space shite whilst millions are dying of poverty in the world, affected by THEIR--the U.S's foreign polices and debt collection and you call their macho space race a 'gift'...??? it is also ILLUMINATI!!....gift my arsew. i didne ask for such a poison gift. fukers
Wow, I have never seen a forum so full of loonies. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I always thought duendy was a bit off. however, it seems that he is much farther gone than I had thought.
i have never considered a guy walking around in a puffy white suit "macho"...but ok...whatever floats your boat. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Neildo: The shuttle has been constantly upgraded since the day it came off the shelves. Damn near every part of that thing has been replaced and improved upon dozens of times. The problem is that this piecemeal spacecraft has reached the point where it starts tripping over its own juryrigging. Duendy: Are you taking drugs? If not, do you need to be? Oh, and you have some damn funny notions about the nature of poverty.
What we really need to do is advance past traditional rocketry. How is it that all other facets of technology have advanced and yet we still use gas powered cars and rocket powered spacecrafts? Seems a bit odd, no?
Because we actually don't need to make our fuel, merely process it. We have these oceans of oil and other useful crap just lying there waiting to be used and you ask why we are still using it? When you have 20 lbs of hamburger just lying in your freezer, you don't go out to buy steak.
OF COURSE ITS A DEATH TRAP.... the astronauts are trapped inside of it. thats the chance they take for the glory of riding to space real fast.... if only we developed slow rise systems... and so.. slow fall... i.e. balloon systems.... then we could all go.. and it wouldnt cost so much. -MT
Alas, there is no lighter-than-void gas. I'm sorry, but the ether hypothesis was disproven a long time ago.
Well obviously, what I'm saying is it's not the most effecient means of getting into space. If you had 20 lbs of hamburger in your freezer, but a new brand of meat came out that could give you the strength of 10 men, of course you would buy it. The problem is we haven't focused on new means of space travel because for some reason we've been content with rockets.
Surely you would agree that if we focused on developing a new source of energy and propulsion as much as we focus on making faster computer chips and iPod's, we would already have the means to travel to other planets much more efficiently?
Sorry, but the use of chemical propellant is still the best we have right now. Sure, a space elevator or something would be great... but it would be an ungodly expensive and time consuming project to set up. A nuke rocket would have some nasty, radiological side effects. A rail launcher will probably turn you into jelly. Most other things are purely science fiction. We are going to be stuck with chemical propellants for a long time to come. What particular chemical, like what was used in the X-Prize, is still up in the air though.
I meant a whole new revision of the shuttle, not just little upgrades. A whole new spacecraft as others mention, a new form of propulsion, etc would require a whole new design for it. Well an extra 5 billion a year from shuttle maintenance sure would help a lot more. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! - N
balloons can get us most of the way... then from the upper atmosphere... we could fire our rockets.. small.. and push our balloon into space... easily... and with a minimum of drag... its not my idea... and many are studing it... it can work. -MT
