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LOS ANGELES, May 16 ? Human spaceflight should be stopped until a better vehicle than the current shuttle is produced, one of the most honored U.S. space engineers told the Los Angeles Times.
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Thanks to the polititians getting their dirty little fingers in the pie from the get-go (i.e. using solid rocket boosters instead of the safer, slighty more costly, but more reusable liquid boosters), the Shuttle should have been replaced before it left the drawing board. While there have been many great deeds performed by the shuttle, I feel the it has been the bane of space flight. It's astronomical (Space Shuttle is a partial reason for that slang terminology) costs have hindered the progress of spaceflight for decades by drawing precious money away from other vehicles. Also by "putting all our eggs in one basket" any time we have a problem, Challenger and Columbia, manned spaceflight is held up for unreasonable amounts of time, ever drawing out our eventual move into the cosmos.
But you can't blame it on the politicians (I think it was done on purpose, but who knows), so lets blame it on the engineers! "They were to ambitious." "They should have used proven technology." etc, etc, etc...
It reminds me of Vietnam (coincidental that it happened in nearly the same time frame), politicians trying to do the military's job. We all know how that ended. Now we are beginning to see the results of their mucking in the space program.
If we are to replace the shuttle (Oh, please God do!), then we must keep Washington politics (read greed) out of NASA's hair. :angry:
Just another American pissed off with the morons in charge...
Motto: Ex logicus, intellegentia... Ex intellegentia, veritas.
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My vote goes to ending government-funded manned spaceflight altogether even though military interests might have something to say about that.
My people don't call themselves Sioux or Dakota. We call ourselves Ikce Wicasa, the natural humans, the free, wild, common people. I am pleased to call myself that. -Lame Deer
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my vote is to get 2 different rockets, one heavylift and one crew rocket to max efficency of the rockets.
"I am the spritual son of Abraham, I fear no man and no man controls my destiny"
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