View Full Version : The final countdown...
A few good articles on the state (or disarray) of the space program:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-space-program-approaches-end-of-an-era-what-next/2011/06/29/AGeBAWtH_print.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-05-24-Obama-grounding-JFK-space-legacy_n.htm
And the last mission:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/sts-135-atlantis-track-tuesdays-s0007-launch-countdown/
:(
-Kevin
An inside look @ Discovery being decommissioned:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2011/07/04/zarrella.inside.discovery.cnn?&hpt=hp_c1
:(
-Kevin
I'm heading down to Florida on Thursday to see her fly one last time. Won't have as good a view as last time, but still should be a good time. Weather isn't looking good for Friday, looking decent for Saturday and pretty good for Sunday. After that, the launch window closes for a few days.
Here's the details, weather geeks: http://www.patrick.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070517-025.pdf
I was speaking to a friend over the holiday - she was in Orlando for the most recent launch. She said she watched the entire launch on the TV. Only afterwards did the obvious occur to her.... :saywhat::shakehead
The latest weather forecast isn't looking very good: http://www.patrick.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070517-025.pdf
TravelGal
07-06-11, 01:10 PM
Los Angeles Times and even the valley's Daily News are carrying front page story after front page story on the history of the shuttle. Picture of a caravan WALKING the first one from the factory to the desert. Picture of an empty interior of a Rocketdyne building. This is really starting to get to me. :cry:
chop456
07-06-11, 02:06 PM
The Final Countdown does make me want to :cry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw8sNoodIDk
TKGAngel
07-06-11, 02:13 PM
Even Sesame Street is in on the gig, sending Elmo down to film some stuff on space. It's a cool idea, but what is the likelihood of today's kids growing up to become astronauts or space travelers?
Andrew Longman
07-06-11, 02:39 PM
Interesting bit about why there are only four crew on this mission http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/science/space/07shuttle.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Never thought about the possible rescue constraints this mission has.
Here's the STS-135 mission logo, and a No Smoking sign: Someone being clever?
http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/702/499pxsts135patch.png http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9605/nosmoking54f2838zt9.jpg
The Final Countdown does make me want to :cry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw8sNoodIDk
I'm glad someone else posted this.
:thumbup:
I was speaking to a friend over the holiday - she was in Orlando for the most recent launch. She said she watched the entire launch on the TV. Only afterwards did the obvious occur to her.... :saywhat::shakehead
I'm pizzled you didn't tell me you were down there....
http://www.space.com/12203-nasa-final-shuttle-launch-sts135-tweetup.html
http://i.space.com/images/i/10790/i02/340148722.jpg?1310060423
:gomer: :D
On a side note...nearby lightning strike, so they are checking the electrical systems. I hope they work better than my ~105K bimmer. :saywhat: 30% chance of the launch happening on schedule tomorrow. I was hoping for the DDs to see the last launch before they head to the shore, as I saw watched the first launch in 4/81. :(
-Kevin
Watching the 'nauts entering the shuttle and getting setup. The process to get them hooked up is insane. :eek: Fueled and ready to go. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate.
-Kevin
Opposite Lock
07-08-11, 11:11 AM
In case you're at work, live coverage on the interwebs:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Let's light this candle. :)
And away she goes. I saw the first and the last. @ one point I had audio recordings of STS-1. :) Tears in my eyes watching this launch like the first one.
-Kevin
TravelGal
07-08-11, 01:09 PM
And away she goes. I saw the first and the last. @ one point I had audio recordings of STS-1. :) Tears in my eyes watching this launch like the first one.
-Kevin
How awesome that you saw them both. A story to tell your grandkids.
Your post reminds me of one of the newspaper articles about one of the first shuttle engineers. He bought a new camera, went to the first launch, lined up the camera, and noticed that the viewfinder was getting foggy. He realized there were tears rolling down his cheeks.
How awesome that you saw them both. A story to tell your grandkids.
Your post reminds me of one of the newspaper articles about one of the first shuttle engineers. He bought a new camera, went to the first launch, lined up the camera, and noticed that the viewfinder was getting foggy. He realized there were tears rolling down his cheeks.
I'm just happy I could share this with the DDs before they left for the shore (they'll be in Elmo's area in a few hours). I caught most of the launches and landings on TV, saw one from WDW, saw Challenger live on TV, and woke up to the Columbia tragedy early on a February morning. :( Not having a coherent space program strategy really, really hurts right now. :(
-Kevin
the best part about the b.s. spacex "private spaceflight" hoopla is that they're getting all their simulation data and calibration settings from JSC.
they ask for data, "which data," "all of it," then they go build their sim and it fails all around and then they come back "yea, uh, so what factors did you use here, here, and here?" and then the engineers just hand over the entire model to the spacex guys. we're talking gnac, aerothermal, everything
SurfaceUnits
07-09-11, 10:24 AM
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1107/AtlantisReflection_ingalls.jpg
The structure that supports the shuttle while on the pad is an amazing piece of machinery in itself.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/PCR.html
Nice photo. I especially like the shuttle in the puddle.
SurfaceUnits
07-09-11, 11:19 AM
Nice photo. I especially like the shuttle in the puddle.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
Final docking completed successfully. I less milestone to go. :(
-Kevin
Just got home from Florida. Atlantis gave us a heck of a show. Here's a video one of my buddies shot from the press site. Watch as the sound knocks his iphone off its tripod: http://www.vimeo.com/26219905
I'll upload my video soon. In the meantime, here's a couple of pictures I took yesterday morning of Freedom Star bringing the left SRB home. This was the last shuttle SRB to come through the locks. The right booster came home the day before.
http://twitpic.com/5p3bl6
http://twitpic.com/5p3bkp
On the plus side, I did get an up close look at Dragon: http://twitpic.com/5o96s4
Something to think about: The average age of the engineers cheering in the control room in Houston when Apollo 11 landed on the moon was 26. Flight director Gene Kranz was a few weeks shy of his 36th birthday. That's a far cry from NASA today, but not too far off from SpaceX.
Food for thought...
How ironic is it that Atlantis is scheduled to touchdown on 20-July, the anniversary of the first moon landing? :eek: :saywhat:
-Kevin
cameraman
07-15-11, 06:58 PM
How is it we have been flying folks in orbit for 50 years now and I have never seen a photograph of the northern or southern lights before today:confused:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/southern-lights-iss.jpg
Those are the southern lights. There should be a dozens or hundreds of amazing lights photographs by now yet I've never seen one:saywhat:
Read today that some in congress are trying to kill off funding for the James Webb Space Telescope. (follow on to the Hubble) $3 billion invested in the project so far.
cameraman
07-15-11, 11:48 PM
They will "cut" the deficit on the back of science. There is not a single aspect of scientific research in this country that not being affected. It doesn't matter if you are NIH, NSF, NOAA, NASA or any of the other myriad of funding agencies, everything is being gutted. What these fools with the selective memories can't seem to recall is how much of the US economy grew out of federally sponsored university research. Hell the vast majority of biotech industry came from science and scientists jumping from academia to industry. They can't seem to grasp the fundamental concept that when they defund and essentially starve out basic research they are pulling the rug out from under all manner of technology startups. The venture capital people fund the startups AFTER the basic research is done.
Insomniac
07-16-11, 12:14 PM
They will "cut" the deficit on the back of science. There is not a single aspect of scientific research in this country that not being affected. It doesn't matter if you are NIH, NSF, NOAA, NASA or any of the other myriad of funding agencies, everything is being gutted. What these fools with the selective memories can't seem to recall is how much of the US economy grew out of federally sponsored university research. Hell the vast majority of biotech industry came from science and scientists jumping from academia to industry. They can't seem to grasp the fundamental concept that when they defund and essentially starve out basic research they are pulling the rug out from under all manner of technology startups. The venture capital people fund the startups AFTER the basic research is done.
I couldn't agree more.
A team of researchers used an 'input–output' economic model to calculate a 141-fold return on each dollar invested in the Human Genome Project. The team's report concludes that a $3.8-billion federal investment (equivalent to $5.6 billion in 2010 dollars) produced $796 billion in economic output between 1988 and 2010 and, in 2010 alone, supported 310,000 jobs.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110510/full/news.2011.281.html
As anyone would expect, there is dispute in the numbers, but I'd say any way you try and manipulate them, there was a very big net gain to the U.S. Economy.
It's the greatest "stimulus" imaginable, but these are anti-intellectual times.
TravelGal
07-17-11, 07:20 PM
They will "cut" the deficit on the back of science. There is not a single aspect of scientific research in this country that not being affected. It doesn't matter if you are NIH, NSF, NOAA, NASA or any of the other myriad of funding agencies, everything is being gutted. What these fools with the selective memories can't seem to recall is how much of the US economy grew out of federally sponsored university research. Hell the vast majority of biotech industry came from science and scientists jumping from academia to industry. They can't seem to grasp the fundamental concept that when they defund and essentially starve out basic research they are pulling the rug out from under all manner of technology startups. The venture capital people fund the startups AFTER the basic research is done.
:thumbup::thumbup:
Final undocking.
The Atlantis astronauts left a flag behind on the space station that was first carried into orbit aboard the shuttle Columbia during the first shuttle mission in 1981. The flag will remain in place until U.S. astronauts, launched on new commercial spacecraft, retrieve it later this decade, a gap of uncertain duration.
Before Atlantis undocked, Tani tried to put that in perspective during a morning chat with space station flight engineer Ronald Garan.
"Today is the 36th anniversary of the undocking of the Apollo from the Soyuz at the end of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program mission," Tani said from mission control in Houston. "The Apollo landing, which was two days later just like shuttle's, marked the beginning of the gap during which time the U.S. did not have any manned launches. That gap was closed five years and nine months later with the launch of (Columbia on) STS-1. So that's our mark to beat -- five years and nine months. We'll start the clock."
"All right, we just (started) our clock," Garan replied. "Thanks."
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-20080766-239/in-bittersweet-farewell-atlantis-leaves-space-station/#ixzz1SemB68xF
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-20080766-239/in-bittersweet-farewell-atlantis-leaves-space-station/?tag=topTechContentWrap;editorPicks
-Kevin
Great conversation. I've met Tani and Garan. Great guys. Not sure Garan is getting any work done up there, however. It seems like all he does is blog for http://www.fragileoasis.org and tweet at http://www.twitter.com/astro_ron
Great stuff.
Remember, while we don't have our own launch vehicles, we DO have Americans in space. We just finished construction of the International Space Station - now the real work up there can begin. They're doing some amazing stuff up there.
If you want a thrill, look up to the sky and wave as the ISS passes over you. (If you want to know more about waving to the ISS, go to http://www.isswave.org )
In a few short hours, Atlantis will be home, ending a pretty remarkable 30 year run for the space shuttle program. It's not the end of everything, just the end of everything we know...
Atlantis has landed safely.
The end of the US space program for now. :mad:
A national embarrassment IMO.
A national embarrassment IMO.
I don't disagree, but I think it won't really be a hot topic until another country (China) makes some serious advances in space exploration. Only then will there be the finger pointing and hard questions about what we are/aren't doing in space.
How is it we have been flying folks in orbit for 50 years now and I have never seen a photograph of the northern or southern lights before today:confused:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/southern-lights-iss.jpg
Those are the southern lights. There should be a dozens or hundreds of amazing lights photographs by now yet I've never seen one:saywhat:
That's strange...I didn't post that.:confused: on purpose anyway.
Watching her get towed back to the hanger. A truly sad day in US history. :( Let's hope they beat the 5 years and nine mos. goal.
-Kevin
Watching her get towed back to the hanger. A truly sad day in US history. :( Let's hope they beat the 5 years and nine mos. goal.
-Kevin
I wonder how that is going to work when NASA or it's contractors are laying off most of the thousands of folks who know how to run the manned space program?
I wonder how that is going to work when NASA or it's contractors are laying off most of the thousands of folks who know how to run the manned space program?
Sadly, I don't believe they will make the goal. IIRC, the shuttle program was already underway when Apollo/Soyuz ended. There is simply no clear plan for the US space program, and I don't get the need for asteroid exploration. :confused: :saywhat:
-Kevin
Sadly, I don't believe they will make the goal. IIRC, the shuttle program was already underway when Apollo/Soyuz ended. There is simply no clear plan for the US space program, and I don't get the need for asteroid exploration. :confused: :saywhat:
-Kevin
Asteroids would be a good source of materials for construction in orbit. Of course there aren't any plans for orbital construction, nor do we have a way to get to orbit in the first place. :mad:
I really think we lost our way when the X-33 was canceled. Reinventing Apollo seems to me a step backwards.
cameraman
07-21-11, 01:19 PM
I wonder how that is going to work when NASA or it's contractors are laying off most of the thousands of folks who know how to run the manned space program?
They have been/are laying people off by the boatload at ATK Aerospace with the loss of both the shuttle and the Constellation program. Canceling the Ares I and V was just plain idiotic but should not be surprising as this country now specializes in the shortsighted & idiotic:irked:
I blame the Vulcans. Always trying to keep the Terrans down.
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/8851/astronaut.png
Insomniac
07-21-11, 01:37 PM
I wonder how that is going to work when NASA or it's contractors are laying off most of the thousands of folks who know how to run the manned space program?
They go to private industry?
Insomniac
07-21-11, 01:39 PM
There is simply no clear plan for the US space program, and I don't get the need for asteroid exploration. :confused: :saywhat:
-Kevin
Asteroids could contain rare earth metals? China has most of them right now.
Insomniac
07-21-11, 01:49 PM
They have been/are laying people off by the boatload at ATK Aerospace with the loss of both the shuttle and the Constellation program. Canceling the Ares I and V was just plain idiotic but should not be surprising as this country now specializes in the shortsighted & idiotic:irked:
I felt it was idiotic to commission a new rocket while the USAF had the Delta IV. If NASA shared the same platform as the DoD, it never would've been canceled. I also agree it seems like a step back to repeat the Apollo program. I know it was a step towards Mars, but still seemed odd. I wish they had planned a lot better what the future would be for manned space flight. I don't see a problem with a delay between manned space flights, but the lack of any planning or goals is the saddest part to me. Money should be poured into R&D towards a real goal. If it is Mars, they should be looking to new ways to launch and get there. Can we send a payload out ahead and then launch people into space without using giant rockets along the lines of Virgin Galactic?
I think the problem is the 'goal' changes every two to four years with the election cycle. We need a Kennedy moment but I don't know where it might come from. I'm not optimistic.
cameraman
07-21-11, 03:02 PM
I felt it was idiotic to commission a new rocket while the USAF had the Delta IV.
The Ares series would have been able to put far larger payloads into orbit than any version of the Atlas. The government's plan is to take NASA completely out of the launch vehicle business and to pray that SpaceX gets it right.
We are totally dependent on SpaceX and the Falcon Heavy which does not exist yet and is being designed & built by a company that has never built anything close to that size before.
I think the problem is the 'goal' changes every two to four years with the election cycle. We need a Kennedy moment but I don't know where it might come from. I'm not optimistic.
This book is a must read for folks interested in the technology and management side of getting to the moon - this from the North American Aviation perspective: Angle of Attack (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angle-of-attack-mike-gray/1001836348)
Read about the determination of the people, moving forward when no one really knew how to accomplish many of the necessary steps to reach the moon; Apollo 1; companies throwing everything into the effort; personal lives destroyed. It is a remarkable story - but they always had a clear goal: man, moon, decade.
The book was recommended by my Uncle - a Rockwell International/Boeing executive in space systems - now retired. He insists we lack the backbone and will - both as a country and as a people - to make the efforts and sacrifices to accomplish such a feat again. I hope he is wrong.
Insomniac
07-21-11, 04:01 PM
The Ares series would have been able to put far larger payloads into orbit than any version of the Atlas. The government's plan is to take NASA completely out of the launch vehicle business and to pray that SpaceX gets it right.
We are totally dependent on SpaceX and the Falcon Heavy which does not exist yet and is being designed & built by a company that has never built anything close to that size before.
My point is, they are constantly building new rockets for the DoD, the vision to have NASA build more was a poor one. They gave NASA a monumental task and withheld the money they needed to complete it. If it was a DoD project, the project wouldn't be cancelled right now. I didn't like the plan to revisit Apollo, but the deck was stacked against NASA from the beginning. Constellation was not going to happen anywhere close to the timeframe that was outlined when the plans were announced.
I might have posted this before, but Wayne Hale, the former director of the shuttle program broke it down really well in his blog a while back:
http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/space-architecture/
I'll summarize it with one line:
Just pick one. And see it through.
We are totally dependent on SpaceX and the Falcon Heavy which does not exist yet and is being designed & built by a company that has never built anything close to that size before.
and a company which is completely reliant on the engineers at johnson space center and marshall SFC for orbital dynamics, structural, and aerothermal analysis
Can we send a payload out ahead and then launch people into space without using giant rockets along the lines of Virgin Galactic?
virgin galactic wasn't orbital. and what private industry are the thousands of operational staff going to switch to? spacex is hitting great cost numbers, but they're also leeching much of their technical data, and they don't have any kind of consistent launch operations through which to employ so much of NASA's talent.
My point is, they are constantly building new rockets for the DoD, the vision to have NASA build more was a poor one.
no, they're not. the delta heavy lift and atlas line with ULA is pretty well set. NASA's requirements for Ares heavy lift was far greater than military sattelite needs, and Ares was based on existing SRB, EFT, and SME architecture.
on a different note, too bad rocketdoc doesn't post here anymore, he helped design the appolo space suits
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/573137main_image_2013_800-600.jpg
Insomniac
07-22-11, 01:19 PM
virgin galactic wasn't orbital. and what private industry are the thousands of operational staff going to switch to? spacex is hitting great cost numbers, but they're also leeching much of their technical data, and they don't have any kind of consistent launch operations through which to employ so much of NASA's talent.
no, they're not. the delta heavy lift and atlas line with ULA is pretty well set. NASA's requirements for Ares heavy lift was far greater than military sattelite needs, and Ares was based on existing SRB, EFT, and SME architecture.
on a different note, too bad rocketdoc doesn't post here anymore, he helped design the appolo space suits
I mean the concept to start from a point where they are already in flight vs stationary on the ground. I don't know the answer, but does NASA? Is our best option to get to Mars using current rocket technologies? I'd personally like to see the innovation and ingenuity that got us to the Moon from NASA. Sure that would mean a longer layoff from putting people into space ourselves. It's a sacrifice of short term for long term. Unfortunately, our government wants to sacrifice it all.
I'm wrong on Delta/Atlas being enough, but I still firmly believe a joint program for both would've ensured a much higher chance of success for Constellation. NASA has been a budget punching bag for a very long time. The practical benefit to cutting their budget was 0, but the loss in research and innovation is immeasurable in manned space flight (among other things).
cameraman
07-22-11, 01:27 PM
I'm opposed to sending humans to Mars anytime soon. For the same or lower costs we can send fleets of machines to do all manner of work. The technology developed will be more relevant to industry as a bonus.
I'm opposed to sending humans to Mars anytime soon. For the same or lower costs we can send fleets of machines to do all manner of work. The technology developed will be more relevant to industry as a bonus.
and thus why the shuttle and constellation were cancelled, and why congress is proposing to cancel James Webb. there's always something cheaper and "better" for industry. at what point is a line drawn? robotics can't contribute to life sciences, and orbital construction technology & experiences for a long term vision aren't acheived through robotics. we tried to do a cost effective robotics approach for hubble, but couldn't, matching hubble's orbit & rotation could only be done by a human on-site.
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/573233main_image_2014_946-710.jpg
View of Atlantis's reentry, from the ISS
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2014.html
And now this (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/14/nasa-buys-flights-on-virgin-galactics-private-spaceship/). :shakehead
The space tourism company Virgin Galactic has struck a deal with NASA worth up to $4.5 million for research flights on the company's new private spaceliner SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Galactic officials announced Oct. 13.
Where is that facepalm photo??
And now this (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/14/nasa-buys-flights-on-virgin-galactics-private-spaceship/). :shakehead
Where is that facepalm photo??
:shakehead x11. :irked:
-Kevin
cameraman
10-14-11, 09:18 PM
and thus why the shuttle and constellation were cancelled, and why congress is proposing to cancel James Webb. there's always something cheaper and "better" for industry. at what point is a line drawn? robotics can't contribute to life sciences, and orbital construction technology & experiences for a long term vision aren't acheived through robotics. we tried to do a cost effective robotics approach for hubble, but couldn't, matching hubble's orbit & rotation could only be done by a human on-site.
A few months later but...
I did not say that they should abandon putting people into earth orbit or even sending them to the moon. I said that attempting to send humans to Mars is stupid. Any human coasting through interplanetary space for a year or more in each direction is going to get cooked, simple as that. There is no effective way to prevent it which makes the trip essentially suicidal. It is an overreach with current technologies. They need to get people back in orbit in something larger than a russian tin can, they would be hard pressed to make it to the moon right now. Wasting all manner of money on a single Mars shot, which would mean scrapping EVERY SINGLE other program NASA has is just asinine.
cameraman
10-24-11, 03:25 PM
NASA isn't quite out of business yet, they are launching a shiny new (oft delayed) earth observation platform on Thursday. It is the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, it is a one off combined military/NOAA beast. This one has all the latest sensor systems and is quite a step up from the roughly 20 year old systems currently in orbit.
The future satellites will be single owner, either NOAA Joint Polar Satellites or DoD Defense Weather systems. There are two planned JPSS satellites, the first of which is due for launch around 2015.
This could be the last Delta 2 launch. There are a five more sitting in a warehouse somewhere but no one has expressed any interest in purchasing them.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/main/index.html
More Russians-In-Space goodness:
As Russia's space agency struggled Thursday to fix a probe bound for a moon of Mars that instead got stuck in Earth's orbit, some experts said the chances of saving the $170 million craft looked slim.
Dosvedanya Phobos-Grunt space probe (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_MARS_MOON_MISSION?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-09-19-29-44)
More Russians-In-Space goodness:
Phobos-Grunt? :saywhat: I'll avoid further politically based comment, but you know who decided to have us rely on the Russkies while investing millions in Solyndra. :saywhat: :shakehead (OK, I couldn't resist :gomer:)
-Kevin
cameraman
03-07-12, 01:28 PM
The Germans have restarted the Shuttle program...
bluQ4eOeBwo
114,000 feet:eek:
chop456
03-07-12, 02:35 PM
VRTngtsOY8Q
EDwardo
03-07-12, 04:37 PM
Basil Fawlty waits on the Germans. "Don't mention the war."
http://youtu.be/yfl6Lu3xQW0
NASA isn't quite out of business yet, they are launching a shiny new (oft delayed) earth observation platform on Thursday. It is the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, it is a one off combined military/NOAA beast. This one has all the latest sensor systems and is quite a step up from the roughly 20 year old systems currently in orbit.
The future satellites will be single owner, either NOAA Joint Polar Satellites or DoD Defense Weather systems. There are two planned JPSS satellites, the first of which is due for launch around 2015.
This could be the last Delta 2 launch. There are a five more sitting in a warehouse somewhere but no one has expressed any interest in purchasing them.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/main/index.html
heh, bunch of my work in Boulder was on this
Don Quixote
03-07-12, 05:15 PM
Basil Fawlty waits on the Germans. "Don't mention the war."
http://youtu.be/yfl6Lu3xQW0:thumbup: Favorite episode. :rofl:
SurfaceUnits
03-07-12, 07:27 PM
In other news, the federal government gave the city of Detroit an 11 million dollar grant that generated two minimum wage jobs. But the department that received the grant was able to renovate its offices and furnish them with all new furniture .
your government is sofaking worthless.
Napoleon
04-17-12, 02:00 PM
The Discovery being delivered to Washington DC today.
http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/g-tch-120417-shuttle-921a.grid-6x2.jpg
http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/g-cvr-120417-shuttle-745a.grid-6x2.jpg
Napoleon
04-17-12, 02:03 PM
PS, bunch of great photos here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/discovery-heads-to-the-dc-area/2012/04/17/gIQACUXmNT_gallery.html
Those are some cool photos, but it doesn't feel like a victory lap. More like a funeral procession.
TrueBrit
04-17-12, 02:53 PM
Those are some cool photos, but it doesn't feel like a victory lap. More like a funeral procession.
I agree.
Today is a sad day imho.
TravelGal
04-17-12, 04:19 PM
I agree.
Today is a sad day imho.
I thought the same thing.
Those are some cool photos, but it doesn't feel like a victory lap. More like a funeral procession.
That's because it is. :(
-Kevin
Very sad indeed. An exclamation point on the end of the manned US space program for the foreseeable future. :(
cameraman
04-20-12, 04:56 PM
A NASA blog
How We Nearly Lost Discovery (http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/how-we-nearly-lost-discovery/)
Napoleon
04-27-12, 11:37 AM
Over NYC today.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/04/27/nyregion/27shuttle-new/27shuttle-new-blog480.jpg
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