End of an era: the final shuttle launch.

[themadscientist]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/08/li ... l-liftoff/

As a child of the 80s the space shuttles have been a recurring icon of American space flight and today we launch the final shuttle mission. This is a moment in history.

Live feed.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/135_splash/index.html

[frapjap]

Definitely saddened by this. I was lucky to grow up about 25-30 miles from Cape Canaveral I got to see many launches during my primary school age years. My mother held me in her arms when the Challenger exploded. The teachers used to take everyone outside in the fields to watch every time one of the shuttles went up. It amazes me when people say "you've SEEN a launch?!" (especially since I've seen so many!) when most people have only seen it on tv or in the Scholastic Readers of long ago. The machine is still an engineering marvel (IMO) and while it has definitely aged further along than most people keep their automobiles these days it has served an excellent purpose. Pouring one out for my homies tonight.

[hannibal]

Yeah it kinda sucks, especially cause there's no successor available yet. I mean, why scrap the shuttle program before we build something better?

I have seen a few launches in person. I think I watched a night launch from Tampa once too.

It's like the last flight of the Concorde, only a much more awesome machine...

[Loki]

As Niel Tyson said, it's not sad to see the end of an era, it's sad to see no new era replacing it. Especially since it appears we are scrapping many of NASA's projects for what amounts to just five more days of war budget.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I'm disgusted that the manned space program has been killed. Our leaders are idiots, and they're holding the entire species back. Private manned programs are nowhere near ready to step in and fill the gap. It's stagnation, the most dangerous thing of all. Of all the things I've claimed make me angrier than the rest...this one's in a whole 'nother league. This isn't cynicism or sarcasm or joking around. This is serious s***, and it sucks on a massive scale. This is the future of Humanity. And some d!ckheads in suits are flushing it down the toilet in the name of shortsightedness.

[AZhitman]

They'd rather spend money on entitlement programs and more bureaucracy.

Interesting how the same people who believe so strongly in Darwin's theory are also the ones fighting so hard to throw money at preventing natural selection.

Anyway, /rant. I'm extremely sad to see the shuttle program scrapped. I had really hoped to see economically-viable space travel in my lifetime. Now, I'm pretty sure I won't.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Seriously, how effin cool is that thing?

[sx moneypit]

I'm disgusted that the manned space program has been killed. Our leaders are idiots, and they're holding the entire species back. Private manned programs are nowhere near ready to step in and fill the gap. It's stagnation, the most dangerous thing of all. Of all the things I've claimed make me angrier than the rest...this one's in a whole 'nother league. This isn't cynicism or sarcasm or joking around. This is serious s***, and it sucks on a massive scale. This is the future of Humanity. And some d!ckheads in suits are flushing it down the toilet in the name of shortsightedness.

THIS^^^^^^^^^^

[nissangirl74]

When I was in elementary school, we always watched the launches on TV. I remember when the Challenger blew up and how deeply effected everyone in the school was by that tragedy. It boggles my mind that there were enough people in agreement to make this happen. It also boggles my mind that there weren't enough people in opposition to try and stop them. It's just another shining example of how what the people of the United States want is less important than what the government of the United States wants.

[skydragoness]

I'm disgusted that the manned space program has been killed. Our leaders are idiots, and they're holding the entire species back. Private manned programs are nowhere near ready to step in and fill the gap. It's stagnation, the most dangerous thing of all. Of all the things I've claimed make me angrier than the rest...this one's in a whole 'nother league. This isn't cynicism or sarcasm or joking around. This is serious s***, and it sucks on a massive scale. This is the future of Humanity. And some d!ckheads in suits are flushing it down the toilet in the name of shortsightedness.

f*** right.
IMHO, this applies to so many other things that have been cut too.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

We spend more money providing A/C to Iraq and Afghanistan than we do on NASA's budget. That, right there, is a travesty and indicative of the short-sightedness and pettiness of our political system.

[Dattebayo]

We must now look to Richard Branson for our future.

[PoorManQ45]

Eh, I'm a bit mixed on killing off the program.

On one hand I see what MoD is saying.

On the other hand I wonder what the program has actually provided.

[bigbadberry3]

Science loses

[AZhitman]

^ That.

[Razi]

Space.
f*** yeah!

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

On the other hand I wonder what the program has actually provided.

Wha...seriously? You have no idea what technologies NASA has fostered over it's 53 years?
The f*** integrated circuit was funded by the Apollo program. That's the biggest one, but nearly everything you use in your daily life came about by a huge helping hand from NASA and it's subsidiaries.
I wonder how many Americans have asked the same retarded question you just did.

[PoorManQ45]

The f**king integrated circuit was funded by the Apollo program.

Come again?

Might want to rephrase that.

The IC was around before that. It was just advanced a bit due to the need of the Apollo program.

[bigbadberry3]

And Tang ^ (OK they didn't create it but still only reason I ever heard of it)

[PoorManQ45]

I'll rephrase my question:

What benefits have come specifically from humans being in space?

[bigbadberry3]

NASA was involved in developing multiple technologies that are commonly used today.

Artificial satellites seem to still be relevant to society.

[PoorManQ45]

NASA was involved in developing multiple technologies that are commonly used today.

Artificial satellites seem to still be relevant to society.

Sputnik 1 and 2 came before.

The Nasa Space Shuttle program did help usher in the space era.

Private companies have been launching satellites for years.

*edit* You keep talking about Nasa as a WHOLE. I am talking about the space shuttle program specifically.

[krash]

I'll rephrase my question:

What benefits have come specifically from humans being in space?

The benefits? Being bad-a** and flying a damn spaceship into outer space instead of playing with a joystick in-front of a screen. Aside from what MOD is saying, on a less important note, as a species we are getting lazy as heck and we have to rely a little less on robots doing our work for us.

[bigbadberry3]

NASA was involved in developing multiple technologies that are commonly used today.

Artificial satellites seem to still be relevant to society.

Sputnik 1 and 2 came before.

The Nasa Space Shuttle program did help usher in the space era.

Private companies have been launching satellites for years.

*edit* You keep talking about Nasa as a WHOLE. I am talking about the space shuttle program specifically.

So what you want is something completely un-thought of before completely, unrelated to anything done ever? Yeah great logic.

http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/tr ... tions3.htm

[bigbadberry3]

Hopefully, China will be nice in the future and let us borrow all the technology they develop for space...

[mmkeller]

That's one small step for the stupidity of politicians and one large leap backwards for humanity.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

The f**king integrated circuit was funded by the Apollo program.

Come again?

Might want to rephrase that.

The IC was around before that. It was just advanced a bit due to the need of the Apollo program.

It was developed by Texas Instruments with funding provided through the Apollo program and the Air Force with their need for miniaturization of electronics. They were also the single largest consumer of integrated circuits at that time. I dunno how else to phrase that.

[PoorManQ45]

http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/tr ... tions3.htm

Whoever made that list did not do much fact checking. At least 4 of those 10 items were NOT NASA inventions. They were used by NASA.

I'll let you do the research on which ones I'm referring to.

Yes, NASA created some things. Many things that are attributed to NASA were not invented there. People often blindly accept myths and then retell the Myth as if it were the truth.

It was developed by Texas Instruments with funding provided through the Apollo program and the Air Force with their need for miniaturization of electronics. They were also the single largest consumer of integrated circuits at that time. I dunno how else to phrase that.

http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/his ... age1.shtml

I have no issue with giving credit where it's due. Please make sure credit is properly given.

[carloslebaron]

I'll rephrase my question:

What benefits have come specifically from humans being in space?

Well, thanks to the Space Station -which was made by Russians- we know a lot, for example, that we are "earth gravity creatures", because when you live in the outer space for months, you start to lose the production of red cells, your body gets distorted, specially having tiny legs and increased size of the chest. The same as well, you depart with bones reflecting your age -lets say 40 years old- and return back as a 40 years old man with osteoporosis in your bones that belongs to a 70 years old man.

Your mind also is affected with disorientation, and we were lucky that never happened a case of an accident causing bleeding or a broken bone over there, because there was no solution to cure such situations.

While the Russian astronauts were doing physical excercises in the Space Station, the American astronauts seemed to be some kind of lazy, and the consequences were seen when they returned back to earth, when the Russian astronauts were capable to walk when in solid ground, while the American astronauts needed of wheelchairs to be transported to their recovery rooms.

By the way, it took the astronauts, from 6 months to two years to recover from their space aventure in the Space Station.

For this reason, a travel to Mars was nothing but a dream, not so a goal, unless the astronauts will take certain drugs, a kind of radiation, some kind of solution to make them resist the low gravity in outer space.

Don't think that I'm inventing all about this message, because I took the information from the National Geographic magazine, released in January 2001, and that has good information in reference of the human body reaction in outer space. You can see the pictures of the rescuers carrying the American astronaut from the returning space ship, because he can't walk at all. I have this magazine in a collection of literature of the same kind of information posted online years ago, which surprisly, many articles have been removed from the internet now.

So, all those Hollywood movies about traveling to the outer space to other planets or galaxies are...well you know...pure science fiction...because in those movies the scenes try to interpret that traveling to the outer space is like traveling from Miami to New York, just in different vehicles...

We have learned many other things, like how liquid metals that can't be mixed on earth can indeed be mixed in the outer space, and etc etc..but in reference to humans living in the outer space...well, so far, such is not for us, and if our planet is going to be extincted, we have no way out...but to get extincted together with our beloved earth...

[Dattebayo]

Well, thanks to the Space Station -which was made by Russians-

This and other things you just said in the last post? Don't exaggerate and pass it off as fact, ok...