Shuttle Atlantis launch
- Thread starter Merlin Clark
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Main engine cut off and external tank seperation. Shuttle Atlantis has successfully launched for the last time.
Godspeed STS-135.
Godspeed STS-135.
Watching myself.. One of my brothers is a booster engineer there at the cape.. .. He won't have a job after next Wednesday.. Probably time for the Shuttle Program to go away, but NOT time for our leaders to shut down ALL programs in favor of donating much of our tax dollars to huge unproductive segments of our population.. Sad to see..
and 25 billion dollars/year in foriegn aid, 200 billion dollars/year financing 2 failed wars, 1 trillion dollar defense budget (seperate from the wars), etc, etc.....
NASA big dogs should have been pushing the replacement for the shuttle before the program was supposed to finish (in 2000 IIRC) rather getting comfortable with extensions.
It is sad that the shuttle program is finished but that has always been the plan.
Sometimes good medicine is hard to swallow but it is for the best that we utililize our resources and redefine our goals for the long term future. We have learned an awful lot from Shuttle program but we have reached a stage of diminishing returns. The fleet has aged and we can no longer afford to maintain this costly group of transports just to ferry people back and forth to perform what have become routine missions. Time to move forward and define new goals in space travel and design the new vehicles to do it with.
"but NOT time for our leaders to shut down ALL programs in favor of donating much of our tax dollars to huge unproductive segments of our population." ...which I assume you mean the top 05% since the only jobs they are creating are for polishing yacht bling (thus unproductive), they are doing great; just look at a copy of "ShowBoats International" (latest issue has the 100 largest yachts built in the the "Americas" last year).
Those folks are certainly not buying Hunters or 50 year old BI40s! ...and I thought this was a "political-free zone" ...my mistake!
Those folks are certainly not buying Hunters or 50 year old BI40s! ...and I thought this was a "political-free zone" ...my mistake!
I have heard that 43,000 NASA workers will be out of a job in 12 days (return of Atlantis).
There are not too many jobs out there for "Rocket Scientists" so the best of luck to all of these soon to be un-employed. Hopefully many of these people will be eligibile for retirement.
There are not too many jobs out there for "Rocket Scientists" so the best of luck to all of these soon to be un-employed. Hopefully many of these people will be eligibile for retirement.
Yeah, Steve, but then "certain" folks will be trying to punish them for their earned pensions.
Benny got it right.
Benny got it right.
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