Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Yet another thing we have in common, oh wise one. I really enjoyed watching this last mission, with all the spacewalks and all. And I was in SoCal when the thing landed - I even heard the sonic boom! If I'd found out an hour earlier that they were diverting to Edwards, I was within range to go out and see it land myself, dangit! Next time . . .>> I actually watched Atlantis launch on this mission from the Poly ... and really it was a great show. I thought about driving to the Cape, but it seems like everytime I go they scrub ... I just wish more people had an interest in the space program, so many good things come out of it ... and at our basic core, Americans are explorers and space is the final frontier ... besides at the rate we're killing this planet, we'll all need a new one to live on soon! It just makes me ill that we aren't on Mars now like we should have been. To go from Apollo to the space shuttle is like going from the Concorde to a SW Boeing 737 ... or worse, to go from DLP to the MK!
Originally Posted By MPierce ^^^ Remember there's not one Concorde flying right now, but there's a bunch of 737's around. No major crashes from SW either. I think that is what has slowed the space program down. When they get in to big of a hurry, and do something stupid, they take a huge PR hit. They set the Space program back decades with each one of the Shuttle's crashes, I'm still amazed that we walked on the moon 40 years ago, and that's as far as we got. I just don't think that human technoligy has advanced far enough yet to send humans safely to Mars, and bring them back. We can land probes on mars, heck I would get on my computer, and look at pictures coming back from there. That was amazing, so I think it's lack of technoligy, and a strong desire to not loose any more people. We all no how dangerous space travel is, but Americans really get upset with stupidity getting our men, and women Astronauts killed.
Originally Posted By rockcow1 ++I just wish more people had an interest in the space program, so many good things come out of it ++ My son (15 years old) and school mates are very interested in the space program. He takes a class in HS called the Durango Aerospace Design Team . They are going to Houston on July 15th to an international competion where they will design a Mars settlement. Teams from Romania, Australia, India, Germany and USA will compete. We were also at POR for the launch. He was very excited. So maybe, some day we will be on Mars!
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 What a wonderful opportunity for your son, congratulations to him. I wish them well.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Remember there's not one Concorde flying right now, but there's a bunch of 737's around. No major crashes from SW either.>> No. But the Concorde was an engineering marvel, much like the Apollo program, for mankind. The 737 is a bus in the sky that's barely comfortable if you fly in First. And, obviously, many more people have died in 737 accidents over the years than the one Corcorde tragedy. <<I think that is what has slowed the space program down. When they get in to big of a hurry, and do something stupid, they take a huge PR hit. They set the Space program back decades with each one of the Shuttle's crashes,>> Agreed 100%. But they're rushed due to ecnomic constraints that are unrealistic and foisted upon them by bureacrats. We seem to have an endless supply of $$$ to kill people and get them killed in Iraq, but for space? That's just not important. <<I'm still amazed that we walked on the moon 40 years ago, and that's as far as we got. I just don't think that human technoligy has advanced far enough yet to send humans safely to Mars, and bring them back. We can land probes on mars, heck I would get on my computer, and look at pictures coming back from there. That was amazing, so I think it's lack of technoligy, and a strong desire to not loose any more people. We all no how dangerous space travel is, but Americans really get upset with stupidity getting our men, and women Astronauts killed. >> The technology absolutely would exist, could exist and should exist. The fact that it doesn't again speaks to where our taxdollars go. It's just like with Disney ... again, explain to me why they could create marvels both creatively and technologically like PoC and HM in the freakin 1960s, but today we get Stitch's Great Belchoff? It's all about priorities and having the wrong people making choices ... whether in our government, at NASA or at WDI!!!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 one of the things I really wanted to do and never got to -- fly on the Concorde -- I just loved the way that plane looked. They brought it to Chicago for an air show once and I was enthralled
