The United States is OUT OF THE SPACE BUSINESS

[Backstop]

However unpopular as it may be, here's my opinion:

We need to stop all space exploration, flights, etc.

Right now, this nation can't afford it.

If there was an adequate and immediate return, then press on.

Adequate and immediate = the moon is made of gold, silver, etc.

The space program should and would be revived after we fix our economy.

Reference:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/shuttle_faq.html

Q. How much does it cost to launch a Space Shuttle?

A. The average cost to launch a Space Shuttle is about $450 million per mission.

[Backstop]

Wait....

Space is Business!

To launch a commercial satellite they pay,they pay A LOT!

Communication-companies,Energy-companies,Goverments...

UUUUUUUHHHH!!!

I would like to see the actual books on that.

[Ryan Ruck]

However unpopular as it may be, here's my opinion:

We need to stop all space exploration, flights, etc.

Right now, this nation can't afford it.

If there was an adequate and immediate return, then press on.

Adequate and immediate = the moon is made of gold, silver, etc.

The space program should and would be revived after we fix our economy.

Reference:

Only problem with that...

[American Patriot]

The space program is a drop in the bucket (I meant to say this the other day, thanks for the graphics Ryan).

50% of that chart ought to be protection of the USA.

[Backstop]

OK...I've been educated.



Fair enough...and thanks.

My friends have started calling me The Mad Slasher.

When I think that I've been paying in to Soc Sec since 1973, they send me yearly statements, and I probably won't see that money, I'm a strong advocate for cutting excessive spending.

It's like a home budget.

When you realize you can't pay the house mortgage, you quit going out to eat.

[Ryan Ruck]

Don't get me wrong Backstop, there are cuts at NASA that can be made. "Global warming" sorry, "Climate Change" research anyone?

[American Patriot]

Agree with Ryan. Or "Muslim outreach" fuck that too.

Cut SS NOW.

Cut the fucking welfare of this country by 50% and do it tonight.

I won't see it.

But BY GOD if Social Security is still there in 2019 you bet your ever lovin' ass, I'm applying and getting ALL I CAN out of it. That's my money and I want it NOW.

[Ryan Ruck]

Not to derail the space thread but Obama's (false) statement that SS checks may not go out if the debt ceiling isn't raised is proof that we need to phase in a privatized SS system akin to 401k.

[American Patriot]

Hell, NASA is suing astronauts to get their "stuff back". Old cameras that went to the moon. Several guys took things with them, they've only taken it back from a couple, and one they are suing him for it.

He might not get HIS SS.

[Brian Baldwin]

NASA is needed right now in many ways. But the private sector really needs to step up to the plate here if we want true space exploration without the politics being the majority of it.

[Backstop]

NASA is needed right now in many ways. But the private sector really needs to step up to the plate here if we want true space exploration without the politics being the majority of it.

Good points.

I think NASA should continue its support to the government, mil. etc. of placing satellites in orbit, etc.

But space exploration, etc?

Nope...not now.

Private sector space exploration would be cool, and probably quite efficient.

[Brian Baldwin]

The moon believe it or not would have quite a financial boost in mining if the private sector could get there.

[American Patriot]

The Fall of America

by Rick Donaldson

Yesterday was 20 July 2011. Forty-two years ago yesterday America landed on the moon with a mandate from President John F. Kennedy - an effort that placed the United States well ahead of the rest of the world in technological advancements and status.

America was not only on top of the world, but on the lunar surface. The Cold War was going hot and heavy, and the Soviets were terrified of us.

On 4 October 1957, two months after I was born, the American Space Program began with the launch of the first Russian Spunik satellite into space--an effort on the part of the US to keep up, and ultimately beat the Russians in the Space Race.

Today ends America's space program. As of today we now rely on the Russians to get Americans into space and to the International Space Station.

Mark today down on your "history calendar" friends. This isn't the first steps down the slippery slope to the Fall of America. But it certainly is one of the final nails in the coffin.

Up until this morning when the last space shuttle landed, America was still on "Top of the World".

Multiple portions of the space program have been killed by Obama.

A man was on the radio today, after spending six weeks out of the country in Slovakia. He called into the Bill Bennett show complaining that people over in what used to be part of the Soviet Empire are scared for America. They are calling Obama a "Communist" and asking "Why don't the Americans see what they have done?"

Why don't we?

Why do we not see?

America, as far as I am concerned is about to be "no more". The Framers of the Constitution are turning over in their graves, as are people like JFK and Reagan.

Obama, and the Russians are laughing all the way to the bank.

[American Patriot]

Space shuttle era ends, leaving big void for area firms

Space shuttle missions were a boon to businesses around Cape Canaveral, Fla. With the space shuttle era over, they're banking on cruise ships and other tourist draws.

• 

Crowds gather at Space View Park as they wait for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis Friday, July 8, 2011, in Titusville, Fla. With the shuttle era over, small area businesses are hoping other attractions will keep the crowds coming.
David J. Phillip/AP/File

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By Chad Brooks, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor / July 21, 2011
Rusty's has been a Cape Canaveral fixture for 20 years, and Rusty Fisher's family has operated area restaurants for nearly six decades, living through the space program's temporary suspensions following the losses of the Challenger and Columbia shuttles in 1986 and 2003 respectively.
Skip to next paragraph Related stories

• With Atlantis landing, an era ends. Are private space firms ready for duty?
• Space shuttle Discovery on its last mission: Where to watch the launch
• Gallery: NASA's Space Shuttle

Topics

• Passenger Water Transportation
• Cruise Ships and Ocean Liners
• Technology
• Science and Technology
• Space Technology
• Space Shuttles
• Manned Space Flight

"We thought that was going to kill us, but it didn't," Fisher said.
"We are going to bounce back from this, too," he said, referring to the end of the Space Shuttle program.
IN PICTURES: The final mission of Atlantis

While it's disappointing to know his future crowds might not match the number that visited his restaurant for the final launch this month, Fisher said there are other events during the year that will draw plenty of customers to Rusty's doors.
"We had a record week, but we did just as well for our July Fourth party," Fisher said. "The port is becoming the place to be."
David Spain, who's owned the Comfort Inn and Suites in Cocoa Beach since the days of the 1970s Apollo missions, is similarly optimistic and said the end of the space shuttle program doesn't mean certain doom for area businesses that rely on tourism to support their bottom line.
"We have been here before," Spain told BusinessNewsDaily, referring to the lull in activity between the Apollo and shuttle missions. "This time, though, we are better prepared than we were."
In the years since the shuttle program began, the entire area around Cape Canaveral has expanded, and proved to businesses that not all their profits depend on the space program.
IN PICTURES: The final mission of Atlantis

[American Patriot]

With Atlantis landing, shuttle program ends — and new challenges begin for NASA leadership

Pierre Du Charme/AP - Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Thursday, July 21, 2011. The landing of Atlantis marks the end of NASA's 30 year space shuttle program.

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By Lillian Cunningham, Updated: Thursday, July 21, 8:51 AM

As part of a weekly opinion roundtable, On Leadership invited Wharton Professor Peter Cappelli, Space Policy Institute Professor Emeritus John Logsdon, NYU Professor Kerry Sulkowicz, and former NASA leadership program director Gail S. Williams to explore the leadership challenges of shuttering NASA’s iconic space shuttle program and of moving into a new era now that the final shuttle, Atlantis, has landed.
So what did they say are some of the major challenges now for NASA? Here are highlights from their pieces.

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More on this Story

• U.S. space program's leadership black hole
• What happens to NASA's shuttle workers now?
• Saying good bye to the last space shuttle
• End of program launches major challenges for NASA

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Wharton Professor Peter Cappelli says the biggest challenge will be workforce issues:
The assumption now is often that new and very different tasks require new and very different employees. Move out the old and bring in the new.
In the case of NASA, however, there are reasons to believe that bringing in a new group won’t work so well. Putting together complex projects like these requires a great deal of tacit knowledge—things you can only learn by doing. And for the most part, there’s no other employer out there doing anything similar. This isn’t like Microsoft hiring from Google. (Continue reading “What happens to NASA’s shuttle workers now?”)
John Logsdon, founder of the Space Policy Institute, says the greatest challenge instead lies outside of NASA, with lack of consensus among U.S. political leadership as to NASA’s future:
In more than 40 years of close observation of the U.S. space program, I don’t think there has ever been more uncertainty and fear of impending program collapse. One result of the current confusion is the too-widespread impression that the final flight of the shuttle means that the U.S. program of human spaceflight has come to an end. This is most certainly not the case. Many American astronauts will be living and working on the International Space Station for the decade to come. And yet equating the end of the shuttle program with the end of human spaceflight is symptomatic of the failure of national leaders to agree on and then communicate a vision of the U.S. future in space. (Continue reading “U.S. space program’s leadership blackhole”)
Kerry Sulkowicz, a professor of psychiatry at the NYU School of Medecine, says that NASA will experience a more difficult organizational grieving period than it may think:
In his more private leadership role inside NASA, one presumes that [NASA Director] Bolden is attuned to the multiple layers of meaning in the shuttle’s last flight, ranging from the literal loss of jobs to the more purely emotional losses of purpose, self-esteem and organizational pride that may come with such a transition. He would do well to tolerate, and even encourage, employees to voice such feelings. No matter how exciting the new plans might be, it’s a crucial step in helping the organization transcend this loss and move on.(Continue reading “Saying good bye to the last space shuttle”)
Finally, Gail Williams — a former director of the Leadership Alchemy program at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center — says that among NASA’s challenges will be convincing policymakers and the American public that a new space travel mission is worth the cost and risk:
A mission of this magnitude and complexity will require a budget to match it; and, moreover, a continuity of support over decades. NASA will need to be able to count on that level of commitment from both the president and Congress if the new human spaceflight program is to be sustainable and achievable over the long haul. And yet, one of the major questions is whether the majority of Americans believe the benefits derived are worth the expense. The Human Spaceflight Plans Committee chartered by President Obama estimated in 2009 that the human spaceflight program costs each citizen about 7 cents per day.
And it’s not just monetary costs at stake. Space travel is inherently a risky business, and human travel beyond low Earth orbit, especially to an asteroid or Mars, will be even more challenging and riskier than past NASA endeavors. It’s unclear whether the American people and political leaders will accept the risk of failure, possibly even the loss of life, inherent in deep space travel. (Continue reading “End of program launches major challenges for NASA”)
Read full roundtable responses:
John Logsdon: U.S. space program’s leadership blackhole
Peter Cappelli: What happens to NASA’s shuttle workers now?
Kerry Sulkowicz: Saying good bye to the last space shuttle
Gail Williams: End of program launches challenges for NASA

[American Patriot]

• July 21, 2011 08:17am EST
• Comments

Atlantis Lands Successfully, Ending NASA's Shuttle Era

By Chloe Albanesius

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Just before 6am Eastern time this morning, the space shuttle Atlantis landed at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for the last time, marking the end of the space shuttle era.
Atlantis touched down at 5:57am and came to a complete stop about one minute later. Its arrival capped off a mission that lasted 12 days, 18 hours, 28 minutes, and 50 seconds and covered more than 5.2 million miles.
The shuttle's arrival was the 25th night landing during the 30-year shuttle program, the 78th landing at Kennedy Space Center, and the 133rd landing in shuttle history.
The shuttle crew—which consists of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim—left the International Space Station on Monday for the two-day journey home. At 4:49am this morning, the shuttle started its deorbital burn, which slowed Atlantis by 331 feet per second before it started its entry into Earth's atmosphere at 5:24am. It approached the space center from the west coast of Florida near Naples.
Atlantis arrived at the ISS stuffed with 9,403 pounds of spare parts, equipment, and other supplies—including 2,677 pounds of food that will sustain the ISS crew in the coming year. It departed with 5,700 pounds of supplies, including faulty parts, and a good amount of trash that had accumulated on the ISS.
"Gorgeous views backing away from ISS. Emotional departure. Start packing for home tomorrow. Busy, tired, smiling," Mission Specialist Walheim tweeted upon leaving the ISS.
NASA officials will have more details at a post-landing press conference, which will air live on NASA TV at 10am. But in a Thursday blog post, NASA administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said the Atlantis crew is "emblematic of the shuttle program. Skilled professionals from diverse backgrounds who propelled America to continued leadership in space with the shuttle's many successes. It is my great honor today to welcome them home."
"This final shuttle flight marks the end of an era, but today, we recommit ourselves to continuing human space flight and taking the necessary—and difficult—steps to ensure America's leadership in human spaceflight for years to come," Bolden wrote.
After today, NASA will retired its space shuttle fleet, eventually shipping them off to various museums across the country. The agency will then focus on deep-space exploration while trips to the ISS will be handled by international and, eventually, commercial crews. NASA's future has been in a state of flux lately, with budget restraints putting the future of some of its projects in jeopardy, including the James Webb telescope.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.

[Ryan Ruck]

Very true and highly depressing piece Rick.

Hopefully we'll get a Reagan in 2012 to undo as much of this damage as possible.

[American Patriot]

Sorry for the depression.

Went to bed last night, my wife said "I forgot to tell you Happy Moon Landing Day".

I said... "I forgot it was. Tomorrow morning is the LAST shuttle landing ever.... So 54 years ago in October the Space Program was born because of the Soviets. Tomorrow it ends because of Commies...."

She nearly cried over that. It hadn't hit her like that until last night. It didn't hit me like that either until last night.

I've spent my entire life, 54 years as of August watching the Space Program or being involved in it as a little kid, waiting for Mars, waiting for orbital stations where we would have people like in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It never came. It's all gone now. No more manned space flights unless we count on a country that is still to this day our sworn enemy and the current President of the United States, and a complicit Congress forced this.

America is now, as Obama wanted us... no longer Great or Special.

In a few months we will be nothing more than a European wannabe-on-our-way-Third-World country.

The world I knew as a child is gone.

The world I'd hoped for will never be.

[Backstop]

Is there any plan in the works to get us back in space?

[American Patriot]

Backstop, I thought that by 2010 we'd have been to Jupiter, found TMA1 on the Moon, and learned we weren't alone out here. I thought we'd have a floating house in the sky.

As it is now, I'm going to have a floating house, but it will be a boat instead.

I DID see they have a flying car now though, as of a few weeks ago.

But I know of NOTHING to put us back in space.