Ambivalence
Veteran
Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,613
Location: Peterlee (for Industry)
02 Feb 2010, 4:34 am
Xerox Alto was post moon landings. Vista was a setback for Macrosfot, but not a significant commercial disaster compared to, for instance, the Darien scheme.
I'm not surprised at the cancellation. Manned spaceflight has been regulated and (supposedly; has it worked?) safeguarded out of existence. Turning it over to private companies won't remove that obstacle. 
03 Feb 2010, 3:10 pm
ValMikeSmith wrote:
I just heard from someone from Nasa on short wave and
the Constellation program is going to be maybe sluggish
but NOT canceled. (I hope that's true).
It is very sad how SLOW rocket science is these days.
When there was a lot of doubt about a person landing
on another world, they hurried up and got on the moon,
and they didn't have technology in 1969 that we all have
now. It is a shame that NASA plans to buy rockets from
Russia after they stop using the space shuttle. Some
rocket scientists think we should skip the moon and go
to Mars. They designed the whole mission to be cheaper
than NASA's plan, but NASA doesn't like it because they
want lots of stuff up there first, the space station, the
space elevator, the moon base ... but if they are not
going to have their own space ships for a while they
should plan more efficiently with what they do have.
1969 is like in the middle of the 1900's. How many
of you... OK, imagine you were a kid and everyone
was talking about moon landings and all of the sci-fi
like Star Trek was all about going in spaceships to other
planets... but then you grow up and the moon hasn't
been gone to all your life. It's like Pyramids. People all
over the world used to make them so long ago that
nobody really knows why anymore, nor how they did it!
Microsoft wastes tons of money doing nothing, or the
same buggy solitaire virus over and over. Windows was
invented by Xerox before anyone went to the moon.
They should have made a moon base instead. VISTA
was the biggest failure of all time. (Or so they say, so
if Chernobyl is number 2, Vista must really be bad!)
They COULD have gone to the moon instead. Who
wouldn't trade Vista for another man on the moon?
the Constellation program is going to be maybe sluggish
but NOT canceled. (I hope that's true).
It is very sad how SLOW rocket science is these days.
When there was a lot of doubt about a person landing
on another world, they hurried up and got on the moon,
and they didn't have technology in 1969 that we all have
now. It is a shame that NASA plans to buy rockets from
Russia after they stop using the space shuttle. Some
rocket scientists think we should skip the moon and go
to Mars. They designed the whole mission to be cheaper
than NASA's plan, but NASA doesn't like it because they
want lots of stuff up there first, the space station, the
space elevator, the moon base ... but if they are not
going to have their own space ships for a while they
should plan more efficiently with what they do have.
1969 is like in the middle of the 1900's. How many
of you... OK, imagine you were a kid and everyone
was talking about moon landings and all of the sci-fi
like Star Trek was all about going in spaceships to other
planets... but then you grow up and the moon hasn't
been gone to all your life. It's like Pyramids. People all
over the world used to make them so long ago that
nobody really knows why anymore, nor how they did it!
Microsoft wastes tons of money doing nothing, or the
same buggy solitaire virus over and over. Windows was
invented by Xerox before anyone went to the moon.
They should have made a moon base instead. VISTA
was the biggest failure of all time. (Or so they say, so
if Chernobyl is number 2, Vista must really be bad!)
They COULD have gone to the moon instead. Who
wouldn't trade Vista for another man on the moon?
Sorry for being slow to reply. I've had some flu over the last few days and have been sick in bed.
I've read some news articles on the internet and it looks like Charlie Bolden is saying that NASA still plans to have some kind of human exploration of space. However, the Constellation Program as it stands could be effectively canceled. I'm skeptical though because if the Ares rocket is canceled, it seems NASA would have to rely completely on the commercial sector send astronauts into space. Besides the fact that this is risky, since the commercial sector doesn't exist yet, I don't think it's a good idea to have to rely on them completely anyway. I also don't see them doing anything in the way of exploration. The research needed for human space exploration is supposed to be done by NASA. The COTS program was supposed to be used as supplementary to the Constellation Program by using private companies to resupply the International Space Station and possibly do other things so that NASA could focus their money and efforts into research and space exploration. I'm thinking that the job losses arising from the cancellation of the Constellation Program could result in NASA losing some expertise in man rated rockets and so on. This could effectively end the human spaceflight program, although maybe relying on private companies to send astronauts to the ISS. As for getting to the moon, it seems more likely now that the Chinese will be the country to put humans there. They are at least capable of doing it 2020. Obama's budget still needs to get through congress, so we'll see what happens.
ValMikeSmith
Veteran
Joined: 18 May 2008
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 977
Location: Stranger in a strange land
04 Feb 2010, 8:55 am
04 Feb 2010, 8:54 pm
| Similar Topics | |
|---|---|
| NASA's Juno Spacecraft Captures Image of a Dolphin |
01 Dec 2024, 6:13 pm |
| What Trump’s Win Could Mean For Medicaid, Disability Program |
08 Nov 2024, 12:53 pm |
| Decided to quit PhD because program did not accommodate me |
29 Nov 2024, 9:38 pm |
