Space....

[Lucky13]

Here's a question...

Where would we be today, spacewise, if the space program hadn't, well, stopped? Where would we be if we had continued at the pace before '72? Any theories?

 

[GrauGeist]

Just a theory...

 

[RabidAlien]

I think we'd probably have 2001-style space stations, maybe a colony on the moon, and be sending expeditions to Mars and other planets. Probably wouldn't've wasted time/money trying to decide if Pluto was a planet....just pop a planet-bound space-telescope out there and have a gander at what else the universe had to offer.

 

[B-17engineer]

GG. I really am not a space person but I did see the Discovery take off yesterday night! It was cool 8)

 

[GrauGeist]

I know Lucky saw my reply and yelled something like "you !!"

I just couldn't resist

I do remember the plans for a space station by the late 80's and early 90's. By space station, I'm talking that big wagon-wheel looking structure. Not the "international space station" thing they have now, that's about the size of a bus.

There was also the intention of having a lunar station by the end of the 20th century.

I think that these plans could have been realized if the U.S. and Russia had stayed focused on that mission.

 

[Erich]

who really knows. would we have fought battles in the outter portion of the galaxy ? not a clue. GG you may be more right than you realize...........soemthing has to give in the take all world we liove in

 

[German Ace]

Well, Gemany was capible of being the first to go to space, the V2. 8)

Is that true that the V2 could go to space?

 

[GrauGeist]

The V-2 did reach low orbit in vertical tests (Mesosphere) at an altitude of 128 miles.

In long range flight, it passed through the Stratosphere at an altitude of 55 miles.

 

[imalko]

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise...

(I couldn't help it. This was my first thought when I saw title of this thread.)

 

[vikingBerserker]

I thought the same thing.

When the Space Shuttles started, I remember thinking we would have a base on the moon by know. What a shame.

 

[stan reid]

The New Horizons spacecraft is set to fly by Pluto and its moons in 7 weeks. It is already sending back pictures as it approaches. After Pluto, it is scheduled to fly by at least one Kuiper Belt object sometime around 2019. The craft was launched in January 2006.

 

[stan reid]

Our Dawn spacecraft has also photographed lights on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres.

 

[syscom3]

Many times, you just cant push technology, you just have to wait until it matures.

The only thing I can see is more Apollo missions. And a space station based on Saturn 5 boosters and resupplied by shuttles.

 

[Lucky13]

Looking forward to what comes next....

 

[stan reid]

The New Horizons spacecraft is set to fly by Pluto and its moons in 7 weeks. It is already sending back pictures as it approaches. After Pluto, it is scheduled to fly by at least one Kuiper Belt object sometime around 2019. The craft was launched in January 2006.

New Horizons is operating flawlessly so far-the Pluto flyby is tomorrow.

 

[at6]

Who knows what the possibilities would have been? More shuttles should have been built, but with better launch systems.

 

[GrauGeist]

Who knows what the possibilities would have been? More shuttles should have been built, but with better launch systems.

The launch vehicles for the orbiters were some of the most powerful, and efficient, reusable launch systems ever built.

But the program was very expensive and the orbiters (shuttles) were old technology that worked, but had limitations to just how long they could be used. Many of the shuttle airframes were used long after their "end of life" estimates.

The Challenger disaster was an unexpected event, no one foresaw an O-ring failure at that junction and the Columbia, one of the oldest shuttles failed because they didn't realize the chunk of ice compromised the port wing's heat sheild until after they examined the video closer after the disaster. Had they known the extent of the damage, they orbiter could had gone to the space station and effected repairs with supplies brought up by a Soviet supply ship or another Shuttle. Waiting for another shuttle would have been more of a wait, though, as no shuttles were ever held on standby. However, these two tragedies aside, the Shuttle program was an amazing success far beyond what was originally anticipated when the program was first started.

Also, the Soviet Buran orbiter program held promise, but had a long string of delays and setbacks because it was being rushed. There's no telling how that orbiter program would have worked out or for how long it would have lasted.

Reusable orbiter technology is a complicated and expensive science. I do wish they had continued with an orbiter program instead of just shelving it after the last Shuttle retired.

 

[pbehn]

I think the world changed. In the 50s 60s and 70s pilots and astronauts were killed in accidents and everyone just carried on. I think if an accident happened on the space station involving loss of life it would mean only robots go up there until life isnt possible on earth any more.

 

[Marcel]

The spaceshuttle retirement was long over due indeed. Nasa was still buying second hand Comodore 64's for their 6502 CPU's to replace the ones in the Spaceshuttle's computersystems. For the ones who don't know, the Comodore 64 was an old homecomputer of the early '80ies. The computerpower of the average cellphone of today is a 100 times more than those old machines. Trying to get old computers was the only way to supply the shuttle with these cpu's.

 

[pbehn]

The spaceshuttle retirement was long over due indeed. Nasa was still buying second hand Comodore 64's for their 6502 CPU's to replace the ones in the Spaceshuttle's computersystems. For the ones who don't know, the Comodore 64 was an old homecomputer of the early '80ies. The computerpower of the average cellphone of today is a 100 times more than those old machines. Trying to get old computers was the only way to supply the shuttle with these cpu's.

I remember as a child of about 10 getting a set of cards about space exploration, the last two were the space shuttle and a space station. Its hard to believe how old it was when retired, I wouldnt set off on a long journey in a car that old.