Topic: =/\= the very last shuttle mission takes off... NASA's NEEMO labs

[stoneyface]

today i am a little sad and have a few tears wanting to escape. the last and i mean very last shuttle mission took off today. barring some unforeseen instance where we have to launch a shuttle for reasons unknown, there are no more. i was a very small child when the shuttle program started and was my first introduction into the world of astronauts and space travel. from there i went to the history of space and sputnik, yuri gagarin, mercury, Apollo, etc... one of my life goals is to get into space before i die. our survival as a species depends on exploration of space. i am sure of that fact. our planet is already dying and no one seems to care to do anything real about it. those of us screaming the loudest are very small minority with no power. we must get into space. we must get to mars. we must leave our home solar system and go further. today marks the end of an era for space travel. i just fear that the end of all space travel.

anyway, ironically another story came out today that i really liked. it is about the NASA underwater labs and testing center. some of you know that all space walk and extraterrestrial missions are practiced underwater as it is the closest analog we have to zero-G environments. great article and shows how things work. take a look at: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/145615/20110513/nasa-neemo-aquarius-underwater-laboratory-human-survival-space-exploration-asteroid-research-near-ea.htm

[Voidwar]

our planet is already dying

No its not.

Thanks for all the great work Shuttle Program & NASA !!!

[Lieutenant_Q]

There's still one more, that was just Endeavour's last mission.  Atlantis still has one mission left to go, it was scheduled for this month, but the delays for Endeavour have pushed it back to June or July.

[stoneyface]

i always forget they added one grrr. the one they added in july. i still feel the same.

[Lieutenant_Q]

Oh, I agree.  Although its long past time to retire the shuttles.  I'm just frustrated that there was nothing planned for a successor.  Hitching a lift from the Russians?!  Is that what we're reduced to now?  So much for pride.  Whose brilliant idea was it to start hitching a lift anyways?  Oh yeah, nobodies, because that was the path of least resistance, and no one wanted to stick their neck out and say, "hey guys, What's NASA going to do after the shuttle retires?"

[Kreeargh]

Did the today show lie to us? I thought this was the last mission of the endevor. 1 more shuttle is supose to go up according to the Today show for the program to end 

[Lieutenant_Q]

An interesting aside, the X-33 was touted as a potential successor to the Shuttle, but why was it scrapped?  The Air Force seems to have it flying just fine.

[stoneyface]

the x-37b is the new frontrunner for the replacement.

[knightstorm]

An interesting aside, the X-33 was touted as a potential successor to the Shuttle, but why was it scrapped?

Basically, it was a combination of NASA's unrealistic plans for it, the huge expense of the existing shuttle program, and the inability to produce a working carbon composite fuel tank.  NASA couldn't afford to operate the shuttle, and build its successor at the same time, so they tried to develop a shuttle that would be cheap enough for private aerospace firms to build and operate.  While an aluminum/lithium alloy tank would actually have a lower net weight than the carbon composite tank, it would be too expensive for the private sector.  Ultimately, the carbon composite tank was a failure, and that ended NASA's involvement in it.  Although according to some conspiracy sites, the airforce continued to develop it and currently has a secret fleet of venturestars.