So
Lifer
- Jul 2, 2001
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Originally posted by: blakeatwork
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
I think the biggest issue right now is the (remaining) shuttles are older than a good portion of the members here.
It's a 20+ year old craft based on even older technology.
People are expecting way too much of them.
Could we design & build better? Sure, but it'll take time & money.
Right now they're all we have.
Viper GTS
I don't think Space Exploration will really come of age until it becomes a global concern, and not just something the G8 fiddles around with. Combine the resources of NASA, the ESA, Russia, Japan, whoever, stick'em all in a room, and don't let'em out until they've come up with something that works the first time, every time...
Pipedream I know
Bah. The US could easily make space exploration come of age if we:
1. Grew up about nuclear power to get to and while in space
2. really comitted an extended program to developing an SSTO craft suing Turbojet/PDE/Scramjet technology.
3. Designed a new generation of spacecraft, based on the DynoSoar/CTV concepts and built a LOT of them (not 5, not 50, but 500 or 5000). They would cost about what a carrier group costs to maintain if we built enough of them, and didn't treat them like eggshells.
4. Began a serious research program into space elevator technology.
Don't fool yourself. If politicians stopped d!cking around and being petty, we could do it 100% alone and it wouldn't even be that large of a drain on the US. In fact, in the long run, it'd provide a huge economic boost, paying for itself.