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I was in Houston when the first shuttle was en route to Florida, to setup for its first launch. The 747 flew low over the city so we could have a good view. A 747 is an awesome aeroplane in itself, so much the more impressive with a shuttle attached on top.
I feel privileged to have been at the Space Center for 3 launches.
what a rush
I have never seen the Federal government move so quickly on a project to end anything. They have ships and aircraft in moth ball fleets for decades. But they worked at brake neck speed to disable, disassemble and move the shuttles so they could never be used again.
Since you failed to post the following statement...
Quote:
The shuttle program, which was scheduled for mandatory retirement in 2011, saw the final launch with Atlantis launching on July 8, 2011, in accord with the directives President George W. Bush issued on January 14, 2004 in his Vision for Space Exploration.[9]The shuttle's planned successor was to be Project Constellation with its Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles and the Orion Spacecraft; however, in early 2010 the Obama administration asked Congress to instead endorse a scaled-back plan with heavy reliance on the private sector.
Of course now you'll completely ignore that and you'll shift gears by asking why the GOP hates the private sector and wants bigger government via NASA... which of course is completely ignorant but expected.
I've lived in FL for over 20 years, and never failed to marvel at the miracle of engineering that was the shuttle as I stood out in my back paddock to watch it launch.
Just being able to go outside and watch it was a miracle unto itself to me.
I can't believe a state that can launch the Space Shuttle would be dumb enough to vote for Jeb Bush.
“Bittersweet,†said Discovery's last commander, Steve Lindsey, “is an overused word, but it is sad.â€
It certainly will be missed in FL, because about 4,000 jobs went with it. In addition to the domino effect that all those NASA jobs have on other industries.
I've lived in FL for over 20 years, and never failed to marvel at the miracle of engineering that was the shuttle as I stood out in my back paddock to watch it launch.
Just being able to go outside and watch it was a miracle unto itself to me.
I lived too far south to see it launch, but we did get to see it flying over head, way up there, on, I believe, the very last flight. (Not meaning this one described by the OP in the fly by.) It might have been the second to last...regardless, we all stopped working. We all looked up and stared and watched it until it was completely out of sight. It is/was most definitely fascinating.
Have taken a few trips to Kennedy Space Center and it never got old. Never.
So what space vehicle do we have to carry a astronaut to the space station or do we have anything from NASA in development?
Nothing ready to fly right now, but that wasn't going to happen anyway, even if Constellation had continued as planned. That's the result of decisions made ages, probably decades, ago. Nobody wanted to step up and say "the Shuttle may not be the greatest thing ever", even as its weaknesses became clear.
But FWIW, Lockheed Martin is building a modified version of the Constellation capsule (named Orion MPCV), first unmanned launch in 2013, manned launch in 2016 - if all goes well.
Space-X is a bit further along with 2 unmanned orbital launches of their Dragon capsule. They'll get more flight experience with unmanned supply runs to the ISS - and for the record, they don't let any Tom, Dick and Harry dock with the ISS.
If the Space Station at full capacity with astronauts and cosmonauts was to have a severe problem and had to leave, how many available space vehicles are on the ground at readiness to go rescue them if it was called for?
They have a Russian space capsule docked at the space station full time in case such a need arises for evacuation.
Yes but can it hold a full compliment of the ISS crew?
It would be kinda pointless if it didnt..
A bit of research comes up with =
Quote:
Since there are only three astronauts on the space station at any given time, all three could evacuate via the Soyuz craft,
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