The year of the first shuttle launch

[tomnackid]

I just got to thinking the other night about how old the STS is. I was in high school when the first shuttle launched (1981). I was doing some research the other night and I was stunned to realize just how much has changed. Of course I knew all of this deep down inside, but seeing it all together is pretty thought provoking. For example:<br /><br />- In the year of the first shuttle launch the now almost obsolete 3.5" floppies were introduced.<br /><br />- Audio CDs first hit the market.<br /><br />- Microsoft released MS-DOS 1.0.<br /><br />- The Macintosh computer was still 3 years from release.<br /><br />- Digital cameras were still a dream. (In a fit of nostalgia I dug out the Canon AE-1 I bought as a senior and loaded it with some...now what do you call that stuff? ...oh yeah "film!"<br /><br />- The Internet was just a few government agencies and universities connected over phone lines.<br /><br />- On the other hand we had supersonic air transport from Europe to American--something that doesn't exist now.<br /><br />Oh well, it just made me realize that there is now a whole generation that grew up with the space shuttle always there! Who don't remember the dark days after Skylab when the last of the Apollo equipment was used up or put out to pasture (almost literally in the case of the fully operational Saturn V that was turned into a lawn ornament in Huntsville!) and the US had no possibility of putting a human into orbit. On the other hand that was the decade of Pioneer and Voyager--arguably the most successful space probes ever launched (although Spirit and Opportunity seem determined to give them a run for their money!)<br /><br />Chime in with your own observations. Don't really know what the point is other than maybe "What a long strange trip its been."<br /><br />

 

[vogon13]

Think how much further the world would have advanced if Billy Gates had been 'chummed' and fed to the squids then.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

{is 'fantasy violence' to amuse still ok or am I up TOS creek, now?}<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

I didn't think the Sat 5 at the SDpace and Rocket Center in Huntsville was fully flight hardware - I thought there was some test hardware in the mix too.<br /><br />But then again - my memory is not what I remember it to be...<br /><br />I still have my AE-1 that I bought a year or two later by the way.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[barrykirk]

I taught my daughter how to use a slide rule a few years ago. She thought it was a big novelty

 

[drwayne]

You know, I don't think I have a slide rule right now....<br /><br />wow...<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[thermionic]

Those AE-1's were nice cameras. I was a sophmore in college when the first flight happened. It flew over my neighborhood on its return flight. We were all watching it on TV (certainly not a flat pannel, maybe even black&white) and we went outside at the moment of truth. Shuttle was not visible, but we could spot the contrails of what appeared to be two chase planes. And the double boom was audible. That was a fine day.

 

[henryhallam]

You'll be pleased to know I still use a slide rule in my first year linear circuits class.. although the other students sometimes look at me a bit strangely!

 

[dobbins]

It moves even more slowly in a non-modular system like the STS. If we had continued with Apollo a different launcher could have been developed and placed under the Apollo C/SM combination without requiring a total redesign of the C/SM. A different C/SM could have been developed and flown on a Saturn. An enhanced SM could have been developed and attached to the CM. It's a lot easier to redesign part of a modular system than to redesign everything all at once.<br /><br />

 

[drwayne]

Thanks for that - I was starting to feel old!<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[nacnud]

Pah slide rules are so 20th century, get with the times and use a virual slide rule <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />