Re: Space Shuttle Grounding....depressing....

Josh Hill wrote: 
On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 05:53:30 +0000 (UTC), Matt Ion
<soundy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Thunder, Agent '005 wrote:

John Jr wrote:


I watched the press conference where they first mentioned
that piece of debris falling off and the reports were obviously ACHING
to report a catastrophe.



I've noticed that too. Every single report I've seen on it keeps bringing up whether or not this the end of manned space exploration, etc. There's not even an attempt to try and be positive...
If the shuttle really is a death trap (which I doubt), fine. Let them design and build something newer and better then put it out there to replace them.

As has been often pointed out, the Shuttle has always been, and still is, literally an *experimental* vehicle. It's not intended as a day-to-day space workhorse, although that secondary function has probably helped pay some of the bills and provided a more "functional" purpose.

To quote to movies, "you know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has two hundred thousand moving parts built by the lowest bidder." 


I think part of the problem is that they tried to make the shuttle
into something it wasn't.

According to what I've been reading, it was originally planned as a
crew vehicle to service the international space station -- supplies
were to have been lifted to the space station with Saturn V's produced
in a new run of eight vehicles, which would have meant that the
station could have been assembled in just a few launches. But the
Saturn V run was cancelled when NASA's budget was cut, and the shuttle
was pressed into service as a cargo hauler.

Hmmm, yes, that's entirely probably. It's also been used extensively as a launch vehicle for satellites, and a service vehicle for all kinds of existing space junk (repairing Hubble, etc.)

Which is fine, I suppose - experience is being gained on every mission, which is the whole point of an experimental vehicle...

Also, NASA made unrealistic claims about the shuttle, about how it was
going to make spaceflight cheap and routine and so safe that anyone
could go.

I doubt they expected to be loading civilian passengers on scheduled flights using the existing shuttles... although such "claims" may have given the public those expectations. The idea is more likely that newer craft for such uses would benefit from shuttle experience.

For all the hype Ruttan and company have received for the low cost of their achievements compared to the astronomical (no pun intended) costs incurred by NASA putting people in space, current attempts benefit from 30 more years' of NASA's experience and expenditures. A LOT of stuff they haven't had to figure out for themselves, like NASA has.


But, as you say, it was really an experimental vehicle
rather than a workhorse; ad hoc fixes can't overcome basic design
flaws, such as having the fuel tank next to the vehicle, and we aren't
yet experienced enough with the design of spacecraft to avoid all
those mistakes.


No, but at least now we DO know that it's a mistake.

To coin a classic Edison quote, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."


---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0530-3, 07/29/2005
Tested on: 7/31/2005 11:05:43 AM
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: DART nearly a bullseye
    ... the Space Station, as long as whatever it is, is still in close proximity. ... Stations) meet the Shuttle deorbit targets. ... Just be careful not to aim the Hook at the arriving vehicle during the ... It moves Proximity Ops and docking out of the realm of the ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: Space Shuttle Grounding....depressing....
    ... >> If the shuttle really is a death trap, ... >> design and build something newer and better then put it out there to ... >is, literally an *experimental* vehicle. ... were to have been lifted to the space station with Saturn V's produced ...
    (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)
  • STS-121 MCC Status Report #06
    ... STATUS REPORT: STS-121-06 ... continued shuttle inspections and preparations for the mission ... The newly augmented space station crew, ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: BTW Stevie were watch the news lately about NASA
    ... if you go back to the original design of next generation of space ... Time moved on, technology advanced, and I have no doubt that that ... >>>Seems everyone else is STILL using the shuttle AND the Space ... I can envision a heavy lift vehicle that is just that- a minimalist ...
    (rec.radio.amateur.policy)
  • Re: Is public support for manned space programme dead ?
    ... the Shuttle system was the tandem staging of the Shuttle, External Fuel Tank, and SRBs. ... No only did it maximize the chance of something falling off and hitting the crew vehicle, or hot gas getting in the wrong place and blowing the thing up, but it minimized the ability to have a viable escape system in place when one of these bad things happened. ... with engineers imploring them not to launch. ... When you put a cargo on a freighter in Hong Kong and send it to San Fransisco you are going on journey that is lengthy time-wise and subject to changing conditions during the voyage. ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
Loading