Washington Post on Space Shuttle

[radarredux]

MSNBC is carring a Washington Post piece on the Shuttle. It isn't very positive.<br /><br />Space shuttle drains NASA budget<br />Agency stuck funding a dinosaur to finish the space station<br />http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12533191/<br /><br />"<i>More than three years after Columbia disintegrated over Texas, the shortcomings of the space shuttle's external fuel tank have made the nation's space program the hostage of an exasperating piece of hardware on the threshold of obsolescence.</i>"<br />...

 

[blacknebula]

"MSNBC is carring a Washington Post piece on the Shuttle. It isn't very positive. "<br /><br />What's new?<br /><br />

 

[spayss]

How could it be positive? They should lie? <br /><br />"The consequences for the space program as a whole, however, are much grimmer: Between the Columbia tragedy and Sept. 30, 2005, NASA spent about $10 billion on the shuttle -- 26 percent of its total budget — and flew just once.<br /><br />This year, NASA has $4.8 billion for the shuttle and plans to fly twice."<br />Note: 'plans to fly twice'. Ha! Ha! It 'might' fly once.

 

[revolutionary]

funding dinosaur to build dinosaur. what a joke, this monstronsity needs to be cancelled and nasa needs to get back on track doing real exploration and real science.

 

[chriscdc]

Everyone seems to be terrified that if they cancel the shuttle now then the US space program will collapse. I strongly doubt that the US public would accept such an obvious dent in the US image.<br /><br />International fall out to not completing the ISS, I think is over rated. It might even get ESA to seriously invest in its own capabilities.

 

[j05h]

If NASA is so bound to the Shuttle, then it might collapse anyway, following STS cancellation. What they should be doing is business the modern way: source capabilities instead of building unneccessary hardware. SPecialize, do what you are good at. In NASA's case, I think that is building deepspace craft.<br /><br />Josh <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>

 

[kdavis007]

The day the Washington Post carries anything positive about the space shuttle is when hell freezes over....