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Truest statement ever about the U.S. space program:

The space shuttle exists to service the I.S.S.
The I.S.S. exists to give the space shuttle somewhere to go.

The space shuttle was a boondoggle NASA sold to Congress to keep their 11k people employed, and Congress is essentially made up of people who won popularity contests that would believe the shuttle ran on a big rubber band if you told them convincingly.

-Phanatik

Until we develop the Universal Translator, we'll just have to make due

LordofHats wrote:Until we develop the Universal Translator, we'll just have to make due

I actually have a yellow fish in my ear that handles all of this stuff for me.

This isn't really a new thing... as early/late as 10-15 years ago astronaut's learned russian


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Monster Rain wrote:

LordofHats wrote:Until we develop the Universal Translator, we'll just have to make due

I actually have a yellow fish in my ear that handles all of this stuff for me.

I just use mine to disprove the existence of god.

WARORK93 wrote:

WarOne wrote:Due to the heavy reliance of U.S. space travel on Russian space vehicles:

Since when? Huh...did not know that...

Since the space shuttles were retired... Though construction has begun on their new rocket, though this one will not be for taking people to the ISS, it will be for taking people beyond Earth's orbit, likely to a near earth asteroid. Also I plan to become an astronaut (NOT JOKING) JUst thought I'd say that lol.


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Also FOX news...... Just sayin.

Monster Rain wrote:Let us not forget the lessons taught to us by the Cosmonaut in Armageddon.

His name was Lev Andropov, and he was a hero in his country, who saved Ben Affleck's American ass!

Phanatik wrote:
The space shuttle exists to service the I.S.S.
The I.S.S. exists to give the space shuttle somewhere to go.

The ISS was a big part of the later part of the shuttle's life, but early on it was its own science platform (Hubble, Skylab, Wake Shield, Compton Gamma, etc.) and DoD deployment system.

Cant wait until Orion is finished...

Wait, I just realized something...

You all know that Constellation, while cancelled, wasn't just dumped in the trash pile, right? The technology is being sourced to private contractors.

Also, NASA's budget didn't really get cut, its stayed about the same relative to inflation.

Actually, they are using a LOT of the Constellation program to build a new rocket. The Orion, which will be used for exploration, instead of simply bringing us to the ISS. This rocket WILL carry people to an asteroid. Mission planning is already beginning, now that the rocket is under construction. The entire theme of this year's desert RATS workshop thing was preparation and experimentation for a near future asteroid mission. Private contractors will be carrying people to the ISS, leaving NASA to focus on exploration. I think the shuttles being canceled will be a better thing in the long run, and I think it will actually quicken space exploration, as soon as Orion is finished.

The shuttles had been a liability, cost-wise, for a long time; and it got worse with the ISS finished. There was no need for a large, sustained orbit platform after there was a semi-permanent one up there for capsules to shuttle new crew to.

But, anyway, I was under the impression that Constellation's CSM tech got disbursed to the private sector. Could be wrong, of course, I don't focus on space exploration anymore.

lol I check NASA.gov pretty much every day. It's kind of an obsession, actually. Whenever a new probe gets to an asteroid, etc, (like Dawn recently arrived at Vesta) I literally watched as the images steamed in, checking the computer hourly, even if it meant interrupting my Elder Scrolls playing time

China recently launched the first parts of their own space station, getting ready for a proposed 2020 completion date.

Although they are using Russian rockets, they have started using their own space suits. Purely speculative, I expect them to look 100% like the suits from Sunshine



Anyone familiar with the level of engineering that goes into these things shows the level that their technology is at. I believe they are also aiming to be the 3rd nation to set foot on the moon sometime in the near future.

Any bets on first man on Mars being People's Republic Airforce captain Lao Tsu Xing?

Any bets on first man on Mars being People's Republic Airforce captain Lao Tsu Xing?

Well it is the Red Planet

Change the location to St. Petersbutrg and give 'Chekov' an over the top Texan accent with which to speak his Russian lines and you have seen the future, or the past or something...

It seems to me there's two reasons to take an interest in space travel, either because scientific discovery is awesome, or because "America feth Yeah".

I can these two different motivations producing very different responses to story from the OP about the level of cooperation in modern space travel.

Ouze wrote:
It is sad to see the US coming up second in space exploration, after we led the way with Yuri Gagarin and Sputnik.

Come now, we all know that Deuce Bigalow lead the way in space exploration.

sebster wrote:It seems to me there's two reasons to take an interest in space travel, either because scientific discovery is awesome, or because "America feth Yeah".

I can these two different motivations producing very different responses to story from the OP about the level of cooperation in modern space travel.

Actually, what I see is that after decades of competition, the United States space program has taken an interesting turn. Partnering with a former entity that was once our ideological opposite on the world stage, I wonder if this partnership is intended to pool the resources of two different national programs.

The Chinese need very little help with their space exploration. They can sacrifice the greater part of their people's comfort and/or freedom to achieve truly remarkable feats of engineering and industrial capacity. America is hampered by a post-Soviet outlook on spending on things that don't need to be spent on anymore (military and space budgets- which was delaying the inevitable when the booming 90's continued). Russia has its own problems, but their expertise in rocketry is what is keeping their space program aloft (that and oil profits which helped increase space expenditures) . America has squandered its money and opportunity on maintaining rather than innovating. Now it is up to private enterprise "working" with NASA to carry American space exploration.

It's not like it's a big investment, it's only a few skill points

You sir, are a nerd.

WarOne wrote:Actually, what I see is that after decades of competition, the United States space program has taken an interesting turn. Partnering with a former entity that was once our ideological opposite on the world stage, I wonder if this partnership is intended to pool the resources of two different national programs.

Which puts you pretty clearly on the 'science and discovery is awesome' side of the coin, and not on the 'America feth Yeah' side.

The Chinese need very little help with their space exploration. They can sacrifice the greater part of their people's comfort and/or freedom to achieve truly remarkable feats of engineering and industrial capacity. America is hampered by a post-Soviet outlook on spending on things that don't need to be spent on anymore (military and space budgets- which was delaying the inevitable when the booming 90's continued). Russia has its own problems, but their expertise in rocketry is what is keeping their space program aloft (that and oil profits which helped increase space expenditures) . America has squandered its money and opportunity on maintaining rather than innovating. Now it is up to private enterprise "working" with NASA to carry American space exploration.

Individual projects with big elements of national prestige will always be more viable under state planned economies than open economies. And Russia, while it's technically an open economy these days, does still derive a lot of its income from state controlled oil production, so they still kind of count on that front.

But more than anything else, I think it's a mistake to look just at . The shuttle program has been shut down, not only leaving a lull in US capabilities, but also likely exposing the shuttle programs as a bit of a balls-up from the start.

But that's just one element of space technology. The best, most sophisticated satellites getting put into space right now are American. After them it's the Japanese. Then you'd start listing countries in Europe, and you'd keep listing a lot of countries until you reached either Russia or China.

There's also exploration missions to Mars, or into the reaches of the solar system. It isn't the Russians or the Chinese undertaking those.

I just think if the manned trip to Mars comes it's going to have to be either the Chinese or Indians - they are the only ones who have the money (and like you say, political motivations) to attempt something that monumental.

The U.S. made it to the moon without anything like the electronics and material technology we have today, and so even though the countries with developing technologies are a little behind with the really high-end stuff I am sure that it would be feasible to extend that to the red planet.

Although to be honest I don't think it really matters who gets to Mars first, aside from anything else it would represent another important step for human ingenuity, and who knows might help pull us all a little bit closer together.

Phanatik wrote:Truest statement ever about the U.S. space program:

Sorry no.

dogma wrote:

Phanatik wrote:
The space shuttle exists to service the I.S.S.
The I.S.S. exists to give the space shuttle somewhere to go.

The ISS was a big part of the later part of the shuttle's life, but early on it was its own science platform (Hubble, Skylab, Wake Shield, Compton Gamma, etc.) and DoD deployment system.

I agree with dogma here.

The 'truest statement' also completely ignored the Russian commitment. If you want to see how most of the ISS is built take a look at pictures of Mir and compare them with the largest space stations NASA built on their own, which IIRC is Skylab.

We could have had the ISS without the space shuttle, some components would have to be downsized that is true, but I dont think the end result would be much different so long as the International part of the funding remained similar.

Im on the Science FETH YEAH! side.

How about "Russia feth yeah!"

Just wait until I invent artificial gravity. Long time space missions? No problem!

Lord Rogukiel reinvents the wheel?