Summary of Nasa and shuttle beurocracy/failure?

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pathfinder_01

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I wouldn’t call the shuttle a failure. It is a very capable spacecraft. It might not be able to go to the moon, but it can carry quite a lot of cargo into orbit as well as bring satellites back out of orbit. It can carry out construction items in space as well as research. Despite having two failures probably is the safest manned spacecraft outside of the Russian soyuz (which has an equal number of failures). People tend to forget how few space flights that there had been previously. By the time of the challenger accident the shuttle had flown safely more times than any previous American manned program. I think the only failure was the inability to make use of the shuttle’s capabilities to further exploration and to properly follow up on it. <br /> <br />I am also not sure that private industry would be able to do manned space flight any cheaper than the government at present. In ten to fifty years depending on technology maybe, but not right now. There isn’t any craft non-government owned manned spacecraft able to go into orbit available for purchase. There isn’t any market at present to justify a company having one built. Manned space flight at present isn’t like the airlines. You can’t buy some cheap craft on an auction and have day trips to the moon yet. At the moment it is more like Columbus’s trips of exploration. Government funded with specially built ships. <br /><br /> The new republic has a tendency to belittle the role of government in the private market. They tend to focus on the private industry but fail to mention all the things the government does to make the market exist. You know little things like build/maintain airports, spaceports, roads as well create and enforce rules and standards. <br /><br />Yes people complain about NASA’s bureaucracy, but frankly the issues involving manned space flight are unique and that is why that bureaucracy exists. Yes there are lots of items NASA could get cheaper if it shopped around, but then there are also lots
 
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hansolo0

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You should really read the article. I get the impression you didn't. Most if not all of your arguments are refuted.<br /><br />**I wouldn’t call the shuttle a failure. It is a very capable spacecraft. It might not be able to go to the moon, but it can carry quite a lot of cargo into orbit as well as bring satellites back out of orbit. It can carry out construction items in space as well as research. Despite having two failures probably is the safest manned spacecraft outside of the Russian soyuz (which has an equal number of failures). People tend to forget how few space flights that there had been previously. By the time of the challenger accident the shuttle had flown safely more times than any previous American manned program. I think the only failure was the inability to make use of the shuttle’s capabilities to further exploration and to properly follow up on it. **<br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /> - It's a failure in the sense that it has prevented us from going any further than LEO, and sucks up much if not most of the space budget. It was supposed to fly many more times per year than it does. It costs WAY more to maintain it than projected- the manpower to inspect the 20,000 tiles and get it ready for it's next flight is staggering. What has it achieved for us in science and manned exploration? It hasn't made manned flight<br />any cheaper. The shuttle is a great piece of engineering and done some<br />great things (hubble, hubble repair, launched space probes), but it's got<br />more negatives than positives. Also, the gov't in it's infinite 'wisdom'<br />passed a bill before the Challenger disaster, that only the shuttle could launch satelites, so when challenger happened, we were screwed for awhile, and had to rely on the French Arianne rockets - how embarrasing.<br />Nasa was only good in it's 'heyday' when it had to compete with<br />the Soviet union, and gave us manned flight orbital flight and the
 
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para3

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I read about half the article which was really interesting and will finish reading it. While the space shuttle has had some wonderful missions, it sure falls short of what NASA officials expected from it and has kept us in earth orbit eversince. The shuttle is a magnificant machine, but NASA is incapable of handling it. It was NASA's sloppiness and carelessness that caused the 2 shuttle disasters. NASA continued to ignore the warning signs and look what happened. I hope they stopped these foolish and dangerous habits or they will continue to have more accidents. I know there is a degree of danger in spaceflight even when things go well, but NASA better get with it and try to make everything as safe as possible to reduce to possibility of another trajedy. And these fools need to start listening to concerned people. <br /><br /><br />Personally, I like to see us go back to the moon, not for the sake of batting a golf ball around and showing off, but to set up living quarters and proving that we can live there for long periods of time before we waste billions on going to Mars for crying out loud. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong><font size="3" color="#99cc00">.....Shuttle me up before I get tooooooooo old and feeble.....</font></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><font size="4" color="#ff6600">---Happiness is winning a huge lottery--- </font></strong></p> </div>
 
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hansolo0

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I agree with most of what you say Para. I think 'beating' the Soviet Union in the end is doing more harm than good. Nasa now has no one to compete with. They really need a kick in their complacency.<br /><br /> I don't necessarily agree that we need to prioritize safety - not at the cost of making progress. Space ship one was very risky, but look at the achievment! If they had concentrated on safety it might not have ever flown. I hope gov't interference will not hamper the Virgin Galactic plans to fly tourists into space with ridiculous safety requirements and red tape!
 
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