Symbolic End of an Empire

Griff · 07-22-2011, 05:44 AM

Slideshow of last shuttle landing. Baton officially handed to China, enjoy space. It turns out you guys are the future of humanity, who knew?

ZenGum · 07-22-2011, 06:38 AM

Sad moment indeed, but I hope the future of re-usable space vehicles is in the hands of private enterprise. Slightly better. I still want my jet-car!

glatt · 07-22-2011, 07:14 AM

SpaceX looks like an actual option. They have put stuff into orbit and can do it for a tenth of the cost (per pound of payload) of others. I saw one of their capsules a month after it orbited Earth when they had the grand opening of a Tesla dealership next to my work. The same guy owns both companies.

infinite monkey · 07-22-2011, 07:21 AM

Very cool. I like these photos of a dad and son at the first space shuttle launch and at the last space shuttle launch.

Story here.

classicman · 07-22-2011, 10:41 AM

Damn, my T-shirts never last 30 years.

Griff · 07-22-2011, 02:10 PM

Mine do but they don't fit over [fat bastard] mah great belly![/fat bastard]

infinite monkey · 07-22-2011, 02:12 PM

That guy doesn't look very swarthy/sweaty so he probably doesn't have to wash it every half hour.

Perry Winkle · 07-22-2011, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

The same guy owns both companies.

Elon Musk. PayPal mafia.

xoxoxoBruce · 07-22-2011, 11:48 PM

Interesting article on why the shuttle was a failure, and why it's good it's ending.

Griff · 07-23-2011, 05:53 AM

He makes some very good points about the weaknesses in the Shuttle program. It should have been replaced or supplemented long ago. We can now expect to do pure science robotic missions, which will yield great information which China can use to colonize near space. I'd like to see private enterprise pick up the pieces but I don't know who would have deep enough pockets to initiate manufacturing and resource extraction. I'm not saying it can't be done, but as a nation we missed a great opportunity in space development between the fall of the Soviets and the rise of the Chinese. Maybe I'm just having trouble shaking the Cold War paradigm. Humanity is destined to expand, but maybe we can hope it'll less about flags and more about people.

xoxoxoBruce · 07-24-2011, 10:28 PM

Research that NASA once sponsored, seems to have been picked up by the DARPA. That said, I'd like to see NASA continue.

07-22-2011, 05:44 AM	#1
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Symbolic End of an Empire Slideshow of last shuttle landing. Baton officially handed to China, enjoy space. It turns out you guys are the future of humanity, who knew? __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

07-22-2011, 06:38 AM	#2
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Sad moment indeed, but I hope the future of re-usable space vehicles is in the hands of private enterprise. Slightly better. I still want my jet-car! __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

07-22-2011, 07:21 AM	#4
infinite monkey Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 13,002	Very cool. I like these photos of a dad and son at the first space shuttle launch and at the last space shuttle launch. Story here. Attached Images

07-22-2011, 10:41 AM	#5
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	Damn, my T-shirts never last 30 years. __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

07-22-2011, 02:10 PM	#6
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Mine do but they don't fit over [fat bastard] mah great belly![/fat bastard] __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

07-22-2011, 07:14 AM	#3
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	SpaceX looks like an actual option. They have put stuff into orbit and can do it for a tenth of the cost (per pound of payload) of others. I saw one of their capsules a month after it orbited Earth when they had the grand opening of a Tesla dealership next to my work. The same guy owns both companies.

07-22-2011, 02:12 PM	#7
infinite monkey Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 13,002	That guy doesn't look very swarthy/sweaty so he probably doesn't have to wash it every half hour.

07-22-2011, 11:48 PM	#9
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Interesting article on why the shuttle was a failure, and why it's good it's ending. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

07-23-2011, 05:53 AM	#10
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	He makes some very good points about the weaknesses in the Shuttle program. It should have been replaced or supplemented long ago. We can now expect to do pure science robotic missions, which will yield great information which China can use to colonize near space. I'd like to see private enterprise pick up the pieces but I don't know who would have deep enough pockets to initiate manufacturing and resource extraction. I'm not saying it can't be done, but as a nation we missed a great opportunity in space development between the fall of the Soviets and the rise of the Chinese. Maybe I'm just having trouble shaking the Cold War paradigm. Humanity is destined to expand, but maybe we can hope it'll less about flags and more about people. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

07-24-2011, 10:28 PM	#11
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Research that NASA once sponsored, seems to have been picked up by the DARPA. That said, I'd like to see NASA continue. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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