It will happen, I’m sure, but not yet. Not until we solve some of the issues we have here at home. Or maybe not- maybe the drive to push outwards could be what drives us to solve our problems on Earth.

We can have space. The money is there. We can take care of our citizens and look to the future. We just have to take back the leadership of our country from the ignorant swine we allowed to be voted in.

We will reach the stars. It likely won’t be in our lifetimes, but we will eventually. And those distance descendants will look back on their ancestors and marvel that we started with so little.

(Please, please don’t link to any Sagan videos on this subject. If I watch one right now, I’ll move from a few tears into outright sobbing.)

One of the count-em-on-one-hand things Obama has done that I agree with. Constellation was basically an extension of the massive cost-plus pork program, locking in the same politically well connected vendors, that the shuttle turned into.

We can do better for far less money by funding more X-Prize type R&D.

I love this quote from a NY Times article on space tourism.

“…the prospect is that in a few years, hundreds of suborbital flights could be taking off every year.”

Fuck ya.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/science/space/01orbit.html

NASA doesn’t want Constellation, Congress is trying to force it on them. So I think it’s more likely not a politically based decision to cancel Constellation.

One of the count-em-on-one-hand things Obama has done that I agree with. Constellation was basically an extension of the massive cost-plus pork program, locking in the same politically well connected vendors, that the shuttle turned into.

We can do better for far less money by funding more X-Prize type R&D.

We’ve reached the point of diminishing returns with chemical rocket launched, near-Earth, manned space programs. From a mission point of view, We’ve figured out how to do everything that manned orbital vehicle flight requires and are not making any large advancements for our billions and billions invested.

This is not to say that there are no recent returns; the International Space Station has taught us how to assemble and repair spacecraft IN SPACE, and materials science, biotech, and medicine have benefited especially from 0-g research.

The shuttle, however, never panned-out as the lower cost reusable alternative to pure rockets. It is an especially inefficient way to service the I.S.S. now that it is constructed. Computer and remote guidance has advanced to the point that no one is even needed in the cockpit anymore, so why have a spaceplane that flies people around at all when a capsule for people (and payload tugs for supplies and satellites) is a more elegant solution to the problem?

Still, the idea of the shuttle is romantic and audacious. I’ll miss the hell out of it.

I see it as fitting that one of the last wake-up calls to the shuttle crew was Shatner as Captain Kirk.

I love the idea of astronauts, but it seems that way we will be exploring space in the near future (and perhaps far future) is through robotic probes. Yes, it is not as romantic or as inspiring, but it is practical, and when it comes down to it, we are still exploring, if only by proxy.

I love the idea of astronauts, but it seems that way we will be exploring space in the near future (and perhaps far future) is through robotic probes

And we all know well that could work out.