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It's shutting down because it's old. The Shuttle Program is expensive and the longer they keep going the more expensive it gets. They need new generation of launch vehicles.
There is 3 of 5 of left with 2 of them being destroyed, Endeavour is almost 2 decades old and the other 2 are around 25 years old. All good things come to an end, they served a purpose but their time is over.
The shuttle program although exciting has been expensive. At around 1.2 million for a failed launch and as much as 500 million for a successful launch one can see just how pricey the program can be.
The shuttle is oudated and should have been replaced long ago.
does anyone know why the space program is shutting down?
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Originally Posted by evilnewbie
Cause we are poor? The government's spent all our money and we don't have enough for anything else? Where have you been for the last year? We probably will be spending 6 Trillion dollars before some of things are done...
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Originally Posted by RazorRob305
why u attacking me anyway buddy?..did you read the rules on this site...it says internet gangstas arent allowed
You're calling THAT post an attack?! Boy.. you sure have thin skin.
i lived in Orlando and knew about this before but never got any answers of why because all people i asked knew was that that it was shutting down...why u attacking me anyway buddy?..did you read the rules on this site...it says internet gangstas arent allowed
You still haven't answered my question. What part of the "space program" are you referring to?
Again, the Shuttle's are being decommissioned. There are only 3 shuttles left in operation, they are too old, too few and too costly to meet their mission requirements. Unfortunately the development of their replacements (rocket based vehicles) has been delayed which will result in a gap in manned space missions. The space station is a ridiculous waste of time, money and energy so a whole new approach needs to be considered.
Personally, the idea of manned missions is a bit of a joke since the only plausible destinations are restricted to our own solar system for the foreseeable future, and I'm talking about hundreds if not thousands of year if ever. Maybe going to Mars makes sense, but ultimately, man is restricted to an infinitesimally small portion of the known universe.
i lived in Orlando and knew about this before but never got any answers of why because all people i asked knew was that that it was shutting down...why u attacking me anyway buddy?..did you read the rules on this site...it says internet gangstas arent allowed
I get crazy sometimes when we spend trillions of dollars we don't have and then someone asks why we aren't spending billions more...
The Space Shuttle are being decommissioned, which is not unexpected since most aircraft only have a 30 year lifespan. Unlike some other aircraft I could mention, the space shuttles are being retired before they develop serious mechanical/electrical issues brought on by age. Plus, the new Ares rockets are superior in every way to the old shuttles, and if I am not mistaken the Air Force has been using rockets similar to the Ares design for decades.
Hopefully technology will catch up with us and jet planes can exit the atmosphere as opposed to expensive and fuel consuming rocket launches. If we developed spy planes during the Cold War that could reach the upper limits of the atmosphere surely we can produce viable craft that can do the same in this day and age..
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Originally Posted by ovcatto
Personally, the idea of manned missions is a bit of a joke since the only plausible destinations are restricted to our own solar system for the foreseeable future, and I'm talking about hundreds if not thousands of year if ever. Maybe going to Mars makes sense, but ultimately, man is restricted to an infinitesimally small portion of the known universe.
That 'infinitesimally small portion' of the universe is currently the most useful to us commercially. Someone has to maintain all the satellites orbiting our planet.. Anything beyond our moon would be grounds for unmanned mission for the foreseeable future.
does anyone know why the space program is shutting down?
Shuttle technology is so old and outdated. No one manufactures the parts anymore. Example, the shuttle uses ancient Intel 8086 chips, those are the chips used in IBM's first personal computer (circa 1981).
NASA needs parts no one makes anymore.
So to keep the shuttles flying, the space agency has begun trolling the Internet -- including Yahoo and eBay -- to find replacement parts for electronic gear that would strike a home computer user as primitive.
For Parts, NASA Boldly Goes . . . on eBay - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/12/us/for-parts-nasa-boldly-goes-on-ebay.html?pagewanted=1 - broken link)
Cause we are poor? The government's spent all our money and we don't have enough for anything else? Where have you been for the last year? We probably will be spending 6 Trillion dollars before some of things are done...
hahaha if that were true, how could government be buying into healthcare and climate control? (sarcasm implied)
If we developed spy planes during the Cold War that could reach the upper limits of the atmosphere surely we can produce viable craft that can do the same in this day and age..
I'd wager it exists If you consider the SR-71 was engineered with late 50's early 60's tech.
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