As someone who grew up with the NASA manned space program as a beacon of innovation, strength, and hope for the future, it is a sad day for me, and I’m sure for many others.
While at ICCC6, I had the honor of once again meeting Dr. Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and the only geologist to ever walk the moon.
I made sure that my children met him, and he surprised me the next day by offering two signed photographs. A most gracious man and I offer my sincere thanks. He, like many others, must feel simultaneously a sense of pride and of emptiness today.
My family and I watched this final launch this morning, I made it mandatory to witness history, even if only on television.
et tu NASA?
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Related news from Aviation Week:
Lawmakers Seek To Kill Webb Space Telescope
A House panel recommends killing the Northrop Grumman-built James Webb Space Telescope, calling the Hubble successor “billions of dollars over budget and plagued by poor management.”
Overall, the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science subcommittee backs funding NASA at $16.8 billion in fiscal 2012, a cut of $1.9 billion to President Barack Obama’s budget request, according to a committee statement. The subcommittee is scheduled to approve its draft of the spending bill that also covers the Commerce and Justice departments on July 7. The bill still must pass in the full House and be reconciled with a Senate version before becoming law.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) defends the committee’s decisions. “Given this time of fiscal crisis, it is also important that Congress make tough decisions to cut programs where necessary to give priority to programs with broad national reach that have the most benefit to the American people,” Rogers says.
NASA’s future space telescope has run into its share of trouble, going $1.5 billion over budget and seeing its launch date slip at least three years.
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To paraphrase a statement made by a certain wife of a political figure, never before have I been so disappointed by my country. For the first time in my memory we do not have a method of placing a person into orbit. While I understand the importance of robotic space exploration, and its many contributions, I am reminded of the last Apollo mission to the moon. A geologist was sent to the lunar surface and for the first time a true scientist was looking for what was important. His finds were fantastic and advanced lunar understanding significantly.
That was why the space shuttle was an outstanding platform. Much like passenger aircraft the capacity to have a professional astronaut crew with subject matter experts allowed for some great strides being made in research. Now it is all lost and the best we can do is hitch a ride with someone else. There has not been a robot constructed or AI programmed that can match a human in problem solving, exploration, assembly, or general maintenance. Yes robots have advanced significantly, but not to the point required to replace a human.
Is human space flight expensive? Yes it is. Is it valuable? Yes it is. Given the paralysis of the government, maybe the only option will be to have the private sector do it from a hardware standpoint. I shake my head when people mention the danger aspect of spaceflight. Life is never without risks, be it driving on the road, eating food, or flying down a snowy mountain jumping 100′ just for kicks. I am so glad my ancestors were not so scared of adventure, otherwise we would still be living in caves.
On a more serious note.
With the “obvious” waste of money that NASA is… and it’s failures. I guess we should have never even bothered with that troublesome exploration idea. That would have been money better served by putting it in programs that help people pay for stuff like…. cell phones or LCD/gas plasma TVs…. or buy baby formula.
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/index.html
From another site:
“The first integrated circuit — the forefather of the modern microchip — was built by Texas Instruments but funded by the Apollo program and the Air Force’s Minuteman Missile Project,” Mr. Lockney said. “They developed it, but the customer was NASA.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09201/985039-51.stm#ixzz1RXBIn6MQ
“In the 1980s, [researchers were] working to use algae to clean water and recycle air and perhaps use as a food source during long-duration space flights,” Mr. Lockney said. “During the experiments, they discovered a unique nutrient that previously had been found only in breast milk. Today, that nutrient is marketed in 95 percent of all baby formula sold in the U.S. and countries around the world.”
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09201/985039-51.stm#ixzz1RXBcHVtB
Last night here in the UK I watched a documentary on the history of the Apollo missions. Was there ever a more inspiring and moving moment in all human history than when Apollo 11 touched down at Tranquility Base? Even today, it is thrilling to hear those calm radio messages passing between the astronauts and Houston. And now, Americans can travel into space only by hitching a ride with the Russians.
The Chinese are planning a manned mission to the moon and, I have no doubt, to Mars. The Indian space plans are also developing quickly. But for the United States, manned space exploration is over. How profoundly sad. I just cannot understand how Americans have managed so quickly to lose their courage, sense of adventure, confidence and can-do attitude – the qualities that summed up a great nation and won the admiration of the world. The decline of America is tragic, and not just for Americans.
It’s hard to believe Obama and his Administration are responsible for the lack of a replacement for the space shuttle. The space shuttle was cancelled during the Bush Administration (as planned and as it should have been). The Obama Administration can’t be faulted for not coming up with a replacement for the space shuttle in 2 and a half years he has been in office.
It’s hard to believe Obama and his Administration are responsible for the lack of a replacement for the space shuttle. The space shuttle was cancelled during the Bush Administration (as planned and as it should have been). The Obama Administration can’t be faulted for not coming up with a replacement for the space shuttle in the 2 and a half years he has been in office.
Well, paint the statistics any way you want. No human in their right mind would ever own a car that had a 2 in 134 chance of exploding each time you turned the ignition key.
Do not be sad, yee hearty space faring lovers!!!
I have loved the ideas of mankind in space and populating the universe since that very first science fiction book that I read at 13. It was Asimov’s first book of the Foundation series. The idea of space inhabitation has been a lifelong love affair.
Then there was the very solemn moment when the first man stepped on the moon. It was dreams coming true.
I think for sure mankind will widely & permanently expand beyond the earth then go to the stars BUT it will be by entrepreneurs spearheading it by private funds and creating new wealth by doing it. It will not be by government bureaucracies and taxed funding.
Quickly mankind will, by private enterprise, play and live among the stars . . . . . and those who do not have the dream or think it is a waste of money will be irrelevant because it will be privately accomplished. : )
John
Aaron says:
July 8, 2011 at 10:05 am
“The Obama Administration can’t be faulted for not coming up with a replacement for the space shuttle in the 2 and a half years he has been in office.”
Actually, he can be faulted for changing the mission focus of NASA to that of an “outreach program”.
Bush cancellation of the shuttle carried with it a mandate for a new vehicle that could service the moon and beyond. They were actually in the early stages of building an Orion crew capsule as I understand things. Obama cancelled Constellation (that program). You can’t lay all blame on Obama, but he did take down the last flag.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation_program
With regard to manned vs robotic space flight, I see this as life imitating art.
If anyone thinks that Isaac Asimov’s robot novels were nothing more than a science fiction yarn then they should read them again to get the whole premise behind the humans vs robots theme: As humans develop robotic systems, their tolerance to risk becomes lower and lower and finally exploration stops, only to be started again by a somewhat artificially-created antagonism to robots. Asimov might have been a biochemist by training, but it is easy to see his interest in human psychology and – in this respect – he has been shown to be quite accurate and prescient.
I alternate between hate and love for astronauts; hate because they are just too damn wonderful (multiple PhD’s, multiple languages and half of them play some kind of musical instrument!), love because they do a great job of making exploration human and exciting. I hope this isn’t the end of manned space flight ‘cos even an oldie like me can dream – I was 6 when Neal Armstrong took his “giant leap’, but still remember being allowed to stay up late to watch it live on a tiny b/w TV.
In grade school I stayed inside during recess to listen to the Mercury suborbital flights. In college my first substantial program written for fun was to simulate an Earth orbiting satellite. I started losing faith in NASA and government in general when the Apollo was canceled. While expensive, I look forward to private enterprise leading the way. (Or China – at this point I don’t really care who takes the next steps to spreading civilization throughout the solar system.)
Apollo was primarily an engineering mission (okay, it was primarily a political mission), but it was nice they moved Harrison Schmitt’s mission up to get it into Apollo 17. He was the only geologist to walk on the moon. One of the highlights at last year’s ICCC was meeting him and discovering he is also a really nice guy.
Oh well, maybe in another decade or two we can start claiming the Space Shuttle missions were faked, just like the Apollo missions. Putting glasses on an orbiting telescope – only Hollywood would do something that silly.
The NASA of the ISS and Space Shuttle programs is not the NASA of Gemini and Apollo. It had become another seriously overbloated government bureaucracy. Time to say goodbye. As John Derbyshire has asked – Q1. What is the purpose of the Space Shuttle? A1. To service the ISS. Q2. What is the purpose of the ISS? A2. To give the space shuttle something to do. And that is the problem with NASA today.
Something I wrote on the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing: “One small step for…oops.” Includes photos I took from the television at the time (not very good, but historical), and a brilliant video “proof” that the whole thing was a hoax (very good, but definitely not historical).
Nonegatives says:
July 8, 2011 at 9:05 am
…but manned missions to space, as of now, contribute nothing to our knowledge and exploration of space
I guess Hubble was a waste of time? I’m sure a lot of astronomers would disagree.
***
Gee, Nonegatives….. I did not know that the Hubble was a manned mission.
This shuttle design was the worst possible one from the original 1970’s competition. Just go back and look at the better designs that should have won the shuttle competition. The designers of the current shuttle have admitted that they falsified their total cost numbers by lying about the turnaround time, and, boy has this been expensive. This particular shuttle has been a huge waste of money, and as anyone can see from the SpaceX designs, there are better, cheaper, more reliable systems to be had. So, good riddance.
The Webb telescope isn’t the important one. The planetary finder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_Planet_Finder ) was the important one, and, it’s just been canceled. The most interesting thing in space right now is finding planets, and, my understanding is that the Webb won’t contribute to that.
Astronauts sign for the job. They know the risks and the rewards. It’s not like they have a gun to their heads to force them to go in space. They have and live for the right stuff.
As the inquiries into the two shuttle accidents have shown, it was not really problems on the design of the shuttles but mainly administrative and communication problems that cause the failures.
I think that manned flight will continue, but as with the rest, the administrations prefer to let their business friends take over the space flights. The government will have to rent space vehicles from private companies to do space exploration. Those won’t be cheap. Like anything else, renting is more expensive than owning. Their friends will make a lot of money with this situation.
I do think that manned space exploration must be done to advance mankind in this hostile environment since, like Hubble, we might need human intervention to save the planet from a cosmic catastrophe.
This is indeed a sad day. Apparently NASA has much more important tasks now other than expanding our understanding of the universe. It seems that studying climate change is more important than space exploration. That is why this is so sad, because NASA is now a prime example of government corruption and individual greed merged together.
Let’s not forget that the NASA programs over-rode air force work to develop space-capable planes. That goal is now closer to fruition than it was before. Riding into space on a bomb looks cool, but has always been inefficient. Let’s develop space-planes and ways to shield people from cosmic-rays before we tackle the next frontier.
They should have painted the tank white for this last flight.
I had the honor of meeting Dr. Schmitt at the AAPG back in April. He autographed my copy of his book, Return to the Moon. He, Scott Carpenter and Jim Reilly (an old friend of mine) gave a great talk on the space program at the all-convention luncheon.
Dr. Schmitt talked about his ideas for returning NASA to its true mission – Aeronautics and Space operations. A good summary of those ideas can be found in the preface to his collection of essays in Space Policy and the Constitution.
Dr. Schmitt also co-chaired a session on Astrogeology. There was a “funny” exchange between Dr. Schmitt and an economist presenting a paper on lunar mining of Helium-3. Dr. Schmitt told the economist that he was wrong about some aspect of his presentation (I forget the details).. The economist said that he’d be happy to provide his sources – Dr. Schmitt said, “I don’t need them. I was in the room when it happened.”
The shuttle program has its high points namely the Hubble Telescope and the many flights to service this program. However, from the heady days of landing man on the moon to suddenly confining NASA to near earth orbits lacked the romance and excitement of the 60s Apollo Program. To me at least the shuttle program was a long backward step in history, waste of money, talent, and public imagination. All the incredible knowledge and ability of the Apollo Program have to be relearned at tremendous cost, time, and technology. I for one am darn glad the shuttle program is done and over with – good riddance.
I know somewhere alive today are humans who will set foot on Mars! That’s exciting! That’s the dream I want to see before I kick the bucket. We have the skill, talent, technology, and will to bring mankind together again as we did with the Apollo program. To once again reach down into the school systems and give something to kids to dream for themselves – this is the future that awaits you and your mates. THIS is why we need children to dream dreams like I did. Dreams of their own. Most of all we as a species MUST venture beyond the confines of this planet if we are to survive as a species in a virtually infinite universe. Every atom in each of our bodies on this planet are made of star stuff – or as Carl Sagan said – “We are all star stuff contemplating star stuff.” Was there life on Mars? If there ever was our entire view of the cosmos will be thrown completely on its head – then we are not alone in the universe. I wanna know!
Asimov suffers from a lack of understanding of human nature, however. People did not risk everything to colonize the “new world” for any reason other than real-estate. Robots cannot deliver you more land to live on. Eventually it will be cheap enough for high-middle-class people to leave Earth and try to survive elsewhere. When that happens, robots or not, everything changes.
Rafer: Manned space flight is not so much about expanding our knowledge of space that is a very meager goal. Manned space flight is about expanding the reach of human kind.
ivy Megademic University
Year of Our Gored 2012
Dear Student: This is to inform you that the IMU bachelor’s program in Space Engineering will be discontinued effective Fall Semester of 2012. We assure you, however, that you can transfer to the replacement major, Gaia Studies, with no delay in matriculation. Both of you will be given full credit for courses already taken. Below are just a few examples of the wealth of courses available under the new BSGS curriculum:
GS 301: Clay-and-Wattle Construction Methods
GS 102: Dung Fire Starting & Maintenance
GS 107: Living the Darkness Experience
GS 405A: Astrological Science
Art 301: Body Painting (emphasis on woad)
Dance 402A: Sunwise Orgiastic Rites (nude)
Dance 402B: Widdershins Orgiastic Rites
Music 303: Lunar-Directed Bayesian Chant
GS 406A: Witch Detection Methodology
GS 406B: Witch Detection Avoidance
CivilEng 411: Henge Construction
GS 200/Religion 490: Human Sacrifice Made Simple.
Note: All Space Engineering graduate programs are discontinued immediately. Equivalent Gaia Studies graduate degrees with contemporary social relevance will soon be available. Both Slave’s and Master’s programs are now in the planning stage for 2014.
I also grew up with the person’d (LOL) space flight program. I watched the lift-off of the first Apollo moon shot, heard the famous “That’s one small step” remark.” I was also high as a kite when the first shuttle touched down at Edwards. I was in a grad school design studio at the time – someone had brought a portable TV and a great cheer went up. A buddy & I talked excitedly about doing a space station as a joint thesis project. I got a way-cool-in-a-geeky-sort-of-way poster of the shuttle which adorned my bedroom wall for years.
But that was then, when I was young & naive and still thought that NASA was a scientific organisation. I was sickened by the Challenger disaster (and enlightened by Feynman’s demonstration of the brittle o-rings – very few people knew at the time that he was in near-constant pain from stomach cancer, and had donated several precious months of his remaining life to the S.S. commission). After the Columbia disaster I just shrugged and thought “Well, what did we expect? – the most complicated transportation system ever concieved administered by the most labrynthine bureuacracy ever created (or evolved, or devolved, or something).”
This is the end of an era, but I don’t think it’s the end of humans in space. It’s just a neccessary breather while we re-assess. We can certainly do better than 1.4 billion dollars per launch; chalk the space shuttle program up to experience. Ever since the Apollo Moon missions, NASA has been an agency without a mission – mostly dog & pony shows for the purpose of continued funding. I’d say scrap it but keep the talent & experience – maybe an international space research agency this time (and one that’s focused on getting payloads off the planet and not pseudo-climate research, etc!).