Space: end of an era?

DNO · Jul 21, 2011

I well remember standing on the front lawn with my family watching the “moving star” that was Sputnik travel across the night sky. I was young, but what a feeling that little light created!

I remember when Yuri Gagarin hurled into space, becoming the first human to leave the planet. Exciting times. Even more exciting, I clearly recall standing with thousands of other people at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square, watching Neil Armstrong step down from the lunar lander,becoming the first person to set foot on the moon.

I guess that accounts for the sense of loss that I felt today when I heard the news that the space shuttle had landed safely, ending the final mission of the program. The end of another era in the exploration of space.

Tonight, I think I’ll toast the health of all of humanity’s past space explorers and wish success to those who will carry the torch into the future.

Atticus Finch · Jul 21, 2011

I think history shows that exploration, discovery and enlightenment are all cyclical. There are exciting times when society values working together and pushing at the edges of our little human envelope. There are darker times when society values being left alone to hide in the center of that envelope. Given the climate of economic austerity that may surround the civilized world for some time to come, we may be entering one of the darker periods...at least with respect to space exploration.

AF

Gracie Lee · Jul 21, 2011

While I agree that it was moving and a bit sad to watch the shuttle touch down, I am not mourning. This is not the end of the *space* program, merely the end of the *shuttle* program. It is time to retire these well worn and well loved craft; they are as old as I am, and while 30 is not terribly old for a person, we replace our cars and computers on a much shorter time scale. We should be, and will be, sending our finest astronauts into space in vehicles suited to the future - safe, carefully engineered ships on the cutting edge of technology. I regret that so many will lose their livelihoods later this week, and I sincerely hope we can find a place for them in the future of our space exploration. In the mean time, I will look forward to the possibilities, and give thanks for the shuttles and the men and women who made it possible.

Maj.Nick Danger · Jul 22, 2011

Next stop is Mars. http://www.nasa.gov/about/whats_next.html#backtoTop

The Good · Jul 22, 2011

I have long admired the achievements of the astronauts and NASA in their endeavors. It's too bad about the dismal state of funding. Now it seems that they'll be basically put on hiatus due to the end of the space shuttle program.

Maj.Nick Danger said:
Next stop is Mars. http://www.nasa.gov/about/whats_next.html#backtoTop

I keep hearing of this. Why not just return to the moon? It's closer to Earth, and to the general population, it's an almost equally impressive achievement. Not only this, but it will give NASA a chance to test the safety of their new equipment, closer to home at that.

Bluebird Marsha · Jul 22, 2011

For awhile, I'd thought that a return to the moon was a case of "been there, done that". But the more I read of the challenges/dangers of a manned Mars expedition, the more it appears to my layman's eyes to be a necessity. I will miss the shuttle, but it has exceeded its manufacturer's warranty. We should have built replacements over the years, but no sense wailing.

I hope that NASA can actually be back in business of exploration, that would be grander than any shuttle mission. And ongoing unmanned missions are pretty exciting.

_Nightwing · Jul 22, 2011

The Good said:
Why not just return to the moon? It's closer to Earth, and to the general population, it's an almost equally impressive achievement. Not only this, but it will give NASA a chance to test the safety of their new equipment, closer to home at that.

No-ones's going to the Moon until they solve the problem of deadly radiation from the Van Allen belts and solar flares, I'm afraid.

Bluebird Marsha · Jul 22, 2011

Short term radiation isn't a major problem, although the Apollo program got lucky that no major flares happened while we had "boots on the moon" as it were. But long term, both for the moon and Mars, astronauts will require some kind of shielded habitat. I've read that inside Martian caves, or deep in lunar craters may be a possibility. I don't know what it would take to construct a living module that was radiation proof.The International Space Station is shielded, though the exposure rate is about the dosage in one day as you'd get in a year on Earth, so shielding is possible. But there's a bunch o'problems that need to be addressed. Testing things out on the moon seems the best way to go. And with cool pictures! I'm a nerd for pretty space pics!

Maj.Nick Danger · Jul 22, 2011

Expanding and improving the space station would make sense with the goal of assembling vehicles to be launched to other parts of the solar system. Much easier of course to launch something, especially manned vehicles with sufficient shielding, supplies, etc. without fighting earth's gravity. I had heard the idea being kicked around, but apparently they can't do it just yet? [huh] Well, now that there is no space shuttle, they certainly can't.
Launching something from earth and parking it in orbit for final preparations would be the most efficient way to go I should think.

Tomasso · Jul 22, 2011

I recall a conversation that transpired at the Johnson Space Center a few months before the first shuttle launch. I was invited to attend a private tour of the facility, conducted by a shuttle mission specialist who was a close family friend of one of our group. During the tour I asked him about the delays the project had been experiencing due to faulty protective tiles on the exterior of the shuttle craft. The press had been reporting that the tiles were the cause of the postponement of several launches.

His reply went something like this:

Keep this to yourself; the tiles are not the problem. It's the engine. Whenever it's powered up to the level needed for reentry....it blows up! But, we have a lot of smart people around here and they'll figure it out.

I felt confident in his response as he was a professor of hydraulic engineering and a former US Navy fighter pilot.

Bluebird Marsha · Jul 22, 2011

I'm hoping that is the kind of thing NASA will now be working on: R & D. Getting people out into space beyond lunar orbit requires some hardware that I don't think we possess yet. Attention all peeps out at NASA, JPL, MIT, and other assorted habitats of genius engineering types: GET TO IT!

^^^Whether it's a car, a vacuum cleaner, or a space shuttle: it's always the engine that causes the problems

_Nightwing · Jul 22, 2011

Bluebird Marsha said:
the Apollo program got lucky that no major flares happened while we had "boots on the moon" as it were.

Actually there were thirty major flares during the Apollo mission, and over fourteen hundred minor ones. Lucky indeed.

The International Space Station is shielded, though the exposure rate is about the dosage in one day as you'd get in a year on Earth, so shielding is possible.

The International Space Station orbits below the protective Van Allen belts, so a lot more shielding will be needed to reach the Moon.

Maj.Nick Danger · Jul 22, 2011

Bluebird Marsha said:
And with cool pictures! I'm a nerd for pretty space pics!

Then you'll like this part of NASA's site,if you haven't already found it. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?collection_id=14394&media_id=17044756

Bluebird Marsha · Jul 22, 2011

Flares can be an issue, but even the shielding used on an Apollo lunar module provided enough protection to an astronaut to protect them from a lethal dose of radiation. And no one is going to be outside during a flare. But I think it's the day to day exposure that would result from a long mission that would be problematic. Nice article on the problem here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/17feb_radiation/

The radiation load to astronauts who went to the moon did increase them developing cataracts, but not so much in the cancer department. So getting to moon and staying short term doesn't appear to be a big problem- staying there long term might be different. But at least they'd be nice and close so we could bring them home if need be

And I can't cite the source, but I recall something to the effect that not only would the probability of cancer rise during a long range space flight, but so would the possibility of early onset Alzheimer's. I can imagine a bunch of people would be willing to risk cancer to go to Mars, but Alzheimer's?

Bluebird Marsha · Jul 22, 2011

Maj.Nick Danger said:
Then you'll like this part of NASA's site,if you haven't already found it. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?collection_id=14394&media_id=17044756

Thanks, but I have vacation homes at the NASA and Hubble web sites.

And The Planetary Society, The Mars Society, Astronomy Magazine, Sky & Telescope Magazine... well you get the picture! I adore being a space geek! I wish I still had my old Mars and Lunar wall maps. When I was a kid I would mark them up with the different landing sites of the various missions. The go stare at the moon and planets with my woefully underpowered 1970's era telescope.

Lord, I do love the 21st century! Have you seen the telescopes that are available these days? I'm still agonizing over which one to purchase.

AtomicEraTom · Jul 22, 2011

Once things get better, I think NASA will be back up and going.

Yeps · Jul 22, 2011

Scheduled for 2012

Tomasso · Jul 22, 2011

Wait, I saw one of those in my GF's drawer.....

V.C. Brunswick · Jul 22, 2011

For now the world's only manned spacecraft are the Russian Soyuz spacecraft which aren't that much different than the one that launched Yuri Gagarin fifty years ago.

Atticus Finch · Jul 22, 2011

Tomasso said:
Wait, I saw one of those in my GF's drawer.....

:eusa_clap

AF

Space: end of an era?

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